


Thomas and Friends: What it Means To Be Human

by AguynamedJacob



Category: Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-10-21 11:17:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 21,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20692640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AguynamedJacob/pseuds/AguynamedJacob
Summary: After washing up on the Island of Sodor and being free from his abusive uncle, a boy named Christopher comes across a certain blue tank engine and through their interactions with his friends and "family", the two discover the true definition of "useful" and what separates humans from machines.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: This is a story that has been on my mind for the past few years. It's meant to be a deconstruction on the whole idea of Thomas the Tank Engine and why he and his stories have endured for so many years. I actually posted this story a couple of years ago on Fanfiction.net and I have improved it even further because it's a story that I simply can't stop thinking about. Hope you enjoy

In the junction, the tall, slender man stared at the front of the train.

Of all the ones he had designed in his career, this one was a particular favorite of his. While all the others were the usual dull gray and brown, this one was an explosion of blue, yellow, red, and black. While all the others were hulking giants that could pull ten times their weight, this one was smaller and more compact, because it was a recent model called a tank engine. While all the others were only machines in his eyes, meant to pull under the command of their driver, this one felt distinctly human.

The man climbed over the bumpers of the engine, sat on his knees, and placed his hand on the front of its smokebox. After hearing the stories he and his son had made together, he felt like something was missing there, like a face. He could almost see the soulful eyes and the wide smile beaming back at him. He chuckled to himself at the ideas that only children could come up with.

He brought himself back down, walked past the brilliant yellow 1 on the engine's side and climbed into its cab. With his immense knowledge on the function of a train, he started it up by throwing coal into the furnace and pulling all the levers and turning all the knobs that were in front of him, his ears feasting on the music of his creation coming to life for the first time.

All that was left was the rope hanging from the ceiling to blow the whistle. He pulled on it, but not before uttering three words: "Happy birthday, Thomas."


	2. Soldiers and Engineers

Ten Years Later: 

Christopher sat at the station near the junction and read the latest issue of The Railway Magazine. He had barely finished the piece on new electric trams when he heard a whistle go off. His father was pulling in the latest engine his supervisors were having him break-in.

"Brand new?" Christopher asked excitedly.

"Brand new!" his father confirmed as he gestured him to hop aboard the train's cab. As soon as he did, his new lesson began.

As usual, Christopher was allowed to go over the basics of driving a train with his father; the levers to pull, the gauges to look over, and the coal to shovel in when the furnace needed it. 

"Just always check to see if it needs more in its belly!" his father said. 

"You mean its furnace?" Christopher asked.

"Yeah, its belly," his father repeated. "Trains are like humans son. Their wheels are their legs, their whistles are their voices, their lanterns are their eyes, and their furnaces are their bellies." 

"I suppose if you want to think of it that way," Christopher chuckled. He always looked up to his father. He was simply the greatest driver he had ever known and it was through him that he gained his obsession with trains. If Christopher did not meet his mother before she died, he would have sworn he married an engine. He was the one who picked out the greatest books the local library had on the subject of engineering. Within the last year, he practically devoured every one of them for supper, with a subscription to The Railway Magazine as a dessert. So his father's suggestion that engines are humans was new but not all that surprising. 

Too soon for both of them, their lesson came to an end. Thankfully, Christopher was getting closer and closer to being the expert on being an engineer he had always aspired to be (though he still had to learn to tug on the break less quickly, confirmed by his father who was still rubbing his neck).

"You think I'll be driving every kind of engine in England, dad?"

"Maybe. But you should know there are more engines out there than just the ones in the country."

His father reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture he cut out of a page from an atlas.

"Now, Sodor, they have the best trains in the world, some are even from England. One day, I'll take you there and you can drive every one of them. By the time you're a man, you will be the greatest driver in the world, I just know it." 

But he never lived to do so. He was drafted for the war and killed in action.

It was at this moment of reflection when Christopher heard the sirens.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Christopher! Shelter! Now!" his uncle said after bursting through the door.

Christopher got up from his bed and trudged downstairs as his uncle was carrying a small crate of whiskey out of the backdoor.

Inside the shelter, Christopher sat on the cot, toying with a miniature train as his uncle was taking his usual swigs of whiskey. Outside, the sounds of bomb blasts and airplanes echoed throughout the streets of London.

"Christopher," his uncle, who was sitting on a nearby chair, said pointing up. "You hear that? This is why I've been training you this past week. In times of war, everybody has to play a part and yours is fighting for Britain when you're old enough."

"….but, maybe I'm not meant to be a soldier," responded the boy. "Maybe I can be an engineer instead."

A long silence followed and his uncle got up took the train right out of Christopher's hands, opened the door to the shelter, and tossed it outside.

"NO!" yelled Christopher before he was pushed down.

"Driving trains is for old men who have passed their prime, not boys who have their lives ahead of them! Being a soldier is in your blood and tomorrow we will continue training in the field! Understood?" bellowed his drunk uncle after slamming the door.

"…..Yes sir," said Christopher fighting back tears as much as he could on the ground.


	3. Useless

The next morning, Christopher's uncle stuffed him into the sidecar of his motorcycle and drove through the debris and wreckage that was London. The streets were full of death as bodies were pulled out of bricks and rubble and firefighters were trying frantically and in vain to save the buildings that had been burning for hours. The cycle even passed by the train station as children were sent to live in the countryside where they would be safe. They were hugged and kissed by their parents before being escorted onto the passenger carts. How Christopher hoped he could be there. When they arrived at the long-desolated field, the two walked to their usual training location.

Christopher ran across the field with his rifle and aimed at the scarecrow propped up against the tree. Holding the gun in his left hand, he reached for the cartridge in his pocket.

His uncle ran up to him with his own gun and pretended to strike Christopher with its butt.

"Your blood is staining the grass," he said with contempt. "How many times must I tell you? Loading with your right hand is quicker. Start over!"

Christopher ran back to the other side of the field and darted to the tree, loaded the gun, this time using the proper hand, and pulled the trigger.

"COCK IT!" screamed his exasperated uncle.

"Right," said Christopher under his breath. He cocked the gun and aimed it at the scarecrow again. He pulled the trigger and when the blast went off, he winced as he fought the urge to drop his gun and cover his ears to avoid the beatings he got from the last few times he did so. Unfortunately, he missed the target.

"A whole bloody week and you haven't been able to shoot a damn thing!" his uncle bellowed as he stomped to him.

"I'm sorry. It's just….."

"It's just what?! Too intense? Too frightening? Too daunting? Well, this is just a bleeding field! Wait until you're in the real battle! You think there's room for cowardice and weakness there? My God, you ARE my brother's son!"

Those words ran into Christopher's ears like acid and with fury he aimed the gun at the bottle in his uncle's hand as he walked away, cocked, pulled the trigger, and fired. The bottle shattered as whiskey splashed and his uncle just stood there like a stone. He whipped his head at the boy and to Christopher's surprise, he gave an approving nod.

They continued the practice for another 15 minutes and Christopher was getting better and better. He felt a sense of rage he had not felt in ages. For once, shooting felt like a very therapeutic way to unleash his anger. After all the fire and explosions, a bird landed on a tree branch nearby.

"All right, Christopher. That's the first bird that's been here in hours. If you can just shoot it….."

Christopher responded, loaded the rifle, cocked it, and aimed it at the bird. But just before he could fire, all his fury ran out. He just realized what he was being trained to do; something he would never imagine himself doing: Kill. He aimed the gun away at a different part of the tree and fired.

As the bird flew away, he lowered the rifle and turned to his uncle.

"Looks like I missed. I was so sure I had it….."

But his uncle did not buy it. He rushed towards the lad with his broken bottle in hand. Christopher ducked with his hands up but his uncle did not attack. Apparently, he was expecting his nephew to shoot him. He threw the bottle as far as he could with an enraged shriek.

"YOU'LL NEVER AMOUNT TO ANYTHING! YOU'RE A DISGRACE TO OUR FAMILY! USELESS!"

Despite his best efforts, Christopher could not stop the tears cascading down his face as he fell on his knees.

After a series of heavy breaths, his uncle stopped, and turned towards the crying boy.

"No. I'm not giving up on you…not yet,"

Christopher brought himself up, confused, wiping away tears.

"There's a friend of mine. He lives on the Isle of Man. Fought in the last great war with me. If he can't get you to kill….no one will."

Just a few hours later, before Christopher knew it, he was on a rented pleasure boat with his uncle.


	4. Shipwrecked

"Isn't that Sodor?" asked Christopher in the bridge, pointing to the large stretch of land outside to the right, three hours after leaving North Road on their small tugboat.

"Yeah, so?" replied his uncle at the helm. They abandoned the U.K. a decade ago. No one's been there ever since."

"You think there are any veterans over there who can teach me?" asked Christopher. 

"Nice try, you sneaky little bastard. I already know they have the finest engines on there. Like I would take you there," his uncle shot back in anger. 

Christopher just stood there and was completely unaffected by his uncle's rant.

"You know what? I have an idea. Since you think you're so good at driving trains, let's see you drive a boat."

"What?"

"You heard me. Come here."

Christopher could smell the whiskey on his uncle and reluctantly complied.

It was in the middle of the night and rain was just starting to pour. Christopher could hardly see anything and he dared not move from the spot. The ever choppy waters were making it even more difficult for him to keep the helm steady.

"Vikings roamed these very waters, boy. Don't you just feel that in you?"

Christopher was about to reply when he saw a massive wave approach. Instinctively, he spun the helm as much as he could to the left, hoping to dodge the typhoon, but it was too late. The water crashed into the bridge through the windows and he and his uncle stormed out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

In the rain, the two charged down the stairs for the lifeboat on the deck where the water went up to their knees. His uncle pulled out a revolver and with a few shots, he cut the ropes from the pulleys keeping the boat up. Both he and Christopher immediately climbed in as the tugboat began to sink when the water in the bridge forced the door off its hinges and flooded the deck.

His uncle started rowing to Sodor until a different look came on his face. He immediately stood up and walked towards Christopher, inadvertently causing the boat to rock.

"You turned around when you should have gone straight into the wave."

"What?!" Christopher shouted. "That would be suici…."

"There's no room for cowards on this lifeboat!" screamed the uncle as he dove down to snatch up Christopher who grabbed the paddle right next to him, shot up, and hit him in the head and off the boat with it.

All the movement caused the lifeboat to tip over, bringing Christopher down with it. His unconscious uncle started to sink down to the ocean floor as the boy grabbed the seat of the boat and started to kick away, hoping to reach Sodor before he completely succumbed to exhaustion.


	5. Welcome to Sodor

After what seemed an eternity, Christopher kept kicking and kicking, his view obstructed by the boat around him and waves sweeping him up underneath. He suddenly felt something around his foot, his heart going still as he thought his uncle had grabbed him around the ankle after regaining consciousness. When it turned out to be sand around his foot, he realized he had finally made it to Sodor and he could stand on solid ground. With what little strength he had left, he tipped the lifeboat right-side-up and began walking with it by his side.

Eventually, Christopher made it to a large beach with a train track just fifty feet away from him. Completely spent, he collapsed on the sand panting. He could not believe what he had done, that he was actually able to defend himself, not that his uncle would be happy about that now, he thought jokingly to himself. A part of him wished he could have saved him, but he knew he would have weighed him down on his way here and besides, after two years of all the torment, all the beatings, and all the insults, he was finally free from that. And after not having any sleep for a whole day and a full six hours of swimming, he could rest.

As he began to fall into his dreams, he could faintly hear in front of him the sounds of….train wheels. If he had not been so exhausted, he would have opened his eyes immediately but he could not find any strength to so. All he could do was lie there and listen as the wheels came to a screech.

"Oh my goodness!" shouted what sounded like a boy Christopher's age.

"What is it Thomas?" asked a young woman's voice.

"There's a boy out there on the beach!"

"A boy?" the second voice gasped.

Christopher could then hear frantic footsteps coming up to him and feel himself being lifted and carried to the train tracks. Even all the sounds that succeeded, the train wheels turning, the whistleblowing, and the furnace roaring, he was still able to fall fast asleep.

After hours of having the strangest dreams he ever had, Christopher woke up in a bed in a room he had never seen before in pajamas he had never worn before. Sunlight was pouring out a window and all that was in the air was a silence he had not heard since the bombs dropped on London. He turned his head and saw a woman no older than twenty writing away in what looked like her journal. She was very pretty, he thought, with auburn hair down to her shoulders and blue eyes that focused intently on whatever she was writing. She was dressed in what looked like a navy blue train engineer's outfit and cap complete.

++++++++++++

Before Christopher could let his consciousness be known, the sounds of train whistles began blasting outside which gave both Christopher and the woman jump. 

"Oh, for God's sake...." the woman uttered as she got up and walked to the window to open it. "What do you want?!" she asked harshly.

"Hey, Jane, is it true there's a boy in there?" asked a young, impish voice.

"Yes, Percy, there is....," 

"Wonderful, just what this island bloody needs, another child....," came a sarcastic, conceited voice. 

"That's enough Gordon. He needs all the rest he can..." she turned around and saw him awake. 

"Are you happy now? You woke him up!" she groaned to the voices out the window. "Just be off and get ready for work."

The sounds of engines chugging away followed, along with the voices going softer as they left.

"I tried to talk them out of it!"

"Shut up, James it was your idea!"

Jane closed the window and turned around to look at Christopher. 

"I'm so sorry about that," she asked gently, knowing that the boy had clearly gone through enough.

"Oh, it's alright," Christopher assured her in a croaked voice. "I was already awake before those drivers blasted their whistles."

"Um, yes, those silly drivers....." she chuckled nervously. She then cleared her throat.

"Well, as you heard there, my name is Jane, Jane Brown to be exact."

"You're the driver who saved me. Thank you!" he said excitedly. 

"You're welcome," she smiled warmly. 

"And it seems that you're a writer," he said as he turned over and saw the journal on his nightstand. 

"Yes, I am a…no actually…."

"'The boy lay in bed, not knowing that when he opened his eyes, he would be in a dream he would not find in any sleep…,'" Christopher read. "That's beautiful," he said, looking up in awe.

"Thank you but I'm only a writer in my spare time," Jane said, calmly taking the journal out of his hands. "I'm a driver first."

"And are those trains I heard outside yours?" 

"No, they're my engines," came an old and weary voice outside the door. There stood a slender man in a waistcoat, top hat, and monocle, grey mustache and wrinkles around his face.

"Hello, I am Sir Brown. The head of Sodor's railway. I can see you've met my daughter."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Christopher sat as he practically lapped up the soup, eager to get all of the warm liquid inside him.

"So Christopher, you're an orphan now?" asked Sir Brown on the other side of the table in the living room with Jane, somewhat repulsed by the boy's table manners.

"Yeah. My uncle died in the wreck."

"Well, I'll be sure to contact London immediately."

Christopher looked up with fear and protest at the prospect of being taken off this island.

"They will be more than eager to take you back and send you to an orphanage."

"No, you can't. Not when there's a war," responded Jane.

"Is he supposed to stay here, then?"

"Why not? The Germans have never attacked Sodor. He'll be safe here!"

Looking into the pleading eyes of both his daughter and Christopher, Sir Brown nodded after a brief silence.

"All right. He can stay here. But only until the bombings stop."

The other two breathed a sigh of relief. Christopher could not believe his luck. Not only was he free from his terrible uncle's wrath forever but if what he said about Sodor was true, then he could start anew and finally follow his father's footsteps and be the best engine driver he could possibly be.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I must make a few calls," said Sir Brown as he proceeded to another room.

"Hey," said Christopher to Jane as she turned to him. "Thank you again for saving me back there."

"Well, you're welcome but I only brought you here. It was Thomas who found you out there," she replied before apparently realizing she said something she shouldn't have.

"And where is Thomas? I want to thank him."

"He's….um. He's…."

She was cut off by a whistle outside and the same voice Christopher heard on the beach.

"Hey, Jane. Is our guest awake yet?"

"He's here…." She continued.

Christopher was just about to dart out the door before Jane stopped him.

"Wait, there's something you have to know…..Thomas is...."

"Yeah, I know, he's a kid. A kid my age it sounds like. That means I can start driving soon!" as he jetted out the door

"No stop!"

Christopher saw that he was standing on a small train station, called Tidmouth according to a nearby sign and there, right in front of him, was a brilliant blue tank engine with a number one painted on its side. Everything about it was pleasingly small; its six wheels, its funnel, its boiler, its dome, everything.

He ran into its cab shouting "Thanks, Thomas, for saving me," but he saw no one inside it.

"Oh, you're very welcome!" replied this seemingly disembodied voice, adding to Christopher's confusion.

Jane was standing on the station platform holding a chair when Christopher turned around and asked: "Where's Thomas?"

"Where's Thomas? Why you're standing inside him, of course!" came the voice from what appeared to be the front of the engine.

Christopher stood frozen as the truth came to him. He turned his head to Jane with a face of disturbed realization as she beckoned him out of the cab. He stepped outside and approached the engine's front. He turned around slowly in half intrigue and half horror and saw, sure enough, that where the front of the engine's smokebox should have been was a face complete with a wide smile and huge, soulful eyes.

"Hello, there! Welcome to Sodor!" said Thomas in the same chipper tone.

All Christopher could do was collapse into the chair Jane brought for him, knowing that he would have to wake up back in his room in London. This simply could not be real. That could not actually be a face on a train. But then Sir Brown came out and cried out happily, "Why, hello there, Thomas!"

He then noticed Christopher sitting on the chair, frozen in shock. "Oh, um….now lad, I….I know this is a lot to take in…."

Christopher turned to him and uttered in a hoarse voice "Where am I, again?!"


	6. Engines and Humans

Thomas couldn't help but stand there with a confused look on his face. Who was this boy and why was he so shaken to see him?

"I'm sorry. Did I say something wrong?"

"Oh, not at all, Thomas" Sir Brown assured him. It's just, Christopher is from a very different place."

"And…where is this boy from exactly?" he asked in a genuinely curious tone.

"I'm from Britain! And in Britain, and the REAL WORLD, Engines can't talk!" replied Christopher, angrily, still not believing what he was telling this too.

Those words clearly had an effect on Thomas as his mouth opened and his eyes slightly widened.

"Well…they do here," replied Sir Brown.

"But…..but why?! Is it magic or…"

"I DON'T KNOW! They've just been able to these past five years! One minute they had no faces and the next minute…." he gestured to Thomas.

"Five years. That's…..that's when Sodor became independent…" said Christopher, remember what his uncle told him last night.

"Yes. The head of this island knew there was going to be war with the Germans and they would target us as well. Since then, we've had no visitors from anywhere else in the world. That's why you never heard about any of this." explained Sir Brown. "Now this may be hard to get used to but you must until this whole bleeding war ends. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Said Christopher reluctantly, still not believing what situation he was in.

"Good. Now let's start over."

"All right! Clearly, we both got off on the wrong wheel here. Hello, I'm Thomas and I hope you enjoy your stay on Sodor," replied the tank engine cheerfully.

"…Thank you…..Thomas." Christopher begrudgingly replied.

"Now. Thomas, don't you think your friends would like to meet Christopher?" asked Sir Brown kindly.

"Oh, absolutely!" Thomas replied with an incredible amount of enthusiasm.

"Well then, why don't you drop me off near the sheds? I believe they're all there right now."

With that, he, Jane, and Christopher, all climbed into Thomas as they were escorted to the sheds.

Throughout the entire trip, Christopher watched with fascination as Jane was pulling all the levers and turning all the gages necessary to keep Thomas going. Seeing a woman drive a train was almost as shocking as the fact that that train had a face. He also couldn't help but notice Sir Brown standing right by him, his face beaming with pride at the sight of his daughter being a professional engineer.

All three humans climbed out and onto the platform onto a different station. The two oldest walked to the door as Sir Brown turned towards Thomas.

"Now Thomas. Jane and I have so paperwork to go through. Until then, show Christopher as many of the other engines as you can. Alright?"

"Right away, sir!"

"That's my boy!"

He and Jane then left Thomas and Christopher who both stood there, a growing sense of discomfort in the boy with this bizarre machine just next to him.

"So, there's…..more of you, is there?" he asked.

"Of course there is! You can't believe I'm the only engine here on this island, can you?"

"Well, thank goodness you're not, because if that were the case, Sodor would only have a dull blue to look at," replied an approaching voice from behind.

In came a mixed-traffic locomotive painted a lovely scarlet with the number 5 on its tender. Like the engine he just rode, this one also had a face, one that showed not only pride but a hint of the wrong kind.

"So this is the boy you just rescued, eh, Thomas?" it said.

"Yeah, James. This is Christopher," said Thomas, ignoring James' little insult as if it nothing new, which it wasn't.

"Hello….." said Christopher weakly, somewhat turned off by this engine's boastfulness. "That, uh….paint smells fresh…." He continued after a small inhale.

"Oh how, nice of you to notice. I just got a new coat of paint a half-hour ago. Sir Brown HAS to give me that train to drive with this!" James replied.

"You're the first one I'm showing him to," Thomas piped in wanting to change the subject.

"Hm. And how appropriate, since I AM the most splendid engine on this whole island."

"Now, James, I can think of more humble ways of introducing yourself. Call me old fashioned," came a softer, older voice. The source was an approaching small brown tram engine with a 7 on its side. Its face was square and had a wise demeanor to it.

"Ah, Toby, right on time," said Thomas smiling.

For the first time since his meeting with Thomas, Christopher was now genuinely intrigued of meeting an engine.

"….A tram engine! And a steam one too! I haven't seen that in ages. Not since they went electric." he said with wide eyes.

"Electric?! Electric! What is going on in your country?" Toby scoffed in a joking fashion.

"Mind if I….climb inside you?"

"Oh, by all means," Toby replied as Christopher proceeded.

"Careful, don't get splinters," James muttered. Clearly, he had a low view of engines older than him.

But Christopher had quite the opposite opinion. Standing inside Toby, he saw a totally different collection of controls from Thomas or any train he studied with his father. But he did recognize a string hanging from the ceiling.

"And I suppose this is the whistle," he said to himself before tugging it, only to hear….

"A bell?" He looked outside and saw, sure enough, that on top of Toby was a shining bell.

"I know, not something your generation is used to but…" Toby said in a self-conscious tone.

"No, No. It's lovely," said Christopher assuredly, making Toby smile.

"Yes, yes, I suppose it is quaint," said James just as arrogantly as ever. "But it's nothing like this." He proceeded to release what he apparently was the greatest whistle blast ever heard by human ears. It forced Thomas and Toby and grimace as Christopher covered his ears, the sound being worse to listen to than any gun blast. This whistle went on for another few seconds with James having a proud look on his face as it blew until it was interrupted by a smaller but much shriller one, causing James to stop and adopt Thomas' and Toby's faces.

The whistle was sent off by a small green engine that bore a 6 who came into the gathering with a mischievous look on his face.

"No one told me there would be a concert," he said.

"Well if there were, Percy, you should be my first performance," Thomas cheeped as Christopher climbed out of Toby.

"You'll have to forgive James, mate. The fumes from that red paint are getting to him," Percy cracked to Christopher as everyone else, except James of course, laughed.

"Well, I thought his whistle was quite lovely," said a calm voice right next to Christopher. He turned around to see, beaming down at him, a locomotive about James's size but with blue paint and a 2 on his tender.

"Hello. My name is Edward. I'm very pleased to meet you," he said.

"Mutual, I'm Christopher," said the boy, finding this engine the most appealing.

"Well, Christopher, it's nice to have a child with us. Usually, they're too busy with school and whatnot," Edward replied.

"And I'm not particularly sad about that," came a 6th, ill-sounding voice, this one belonging to a large green locomotive numbered 3. "I would be if they weren't constantly throwing rocks at me from that bridge."

"Makes you wanna hide in that tunnel again eh, Henry?" Percy cheeked.

"It's not funny!" replied Henry. He then let out an unexpectedly loud sneeze. 

"He's always sick without his special Welsh coal," Thomas whispered to Christopher.

"Besides, aren't us engines all the company we need? What can they do that we can't?"

"Well, they can stick their noses in the air like he is…" Edward responded, pointing out the way Christopher was looking up, marveling at all the engines around him. He even tried to move his own nose up. "See? None of us can do that…"

"Yeah and speaking of noses in the air, here comes Gordon," said Percy as No.4, a blue version of Henry, showed up. His face was as wrinkly and stuffy looking as any face Christopher had ever seen and as he approached the crowd, his attitude matched it perfectly as the boy could see.

"This is why you're all gathering here when there's work to prepare for? Talking to some….urchin?"

"This "urchin" is named Christopher," said Thomas, clearly perturbed by Gordon's rudeness, "And he's going to stay with us until the war's over."

"Well that's one way the Germans have inconvenienced us…" the haughty engine replied.

"And, where is this pest, uh, guest from anyway," asked Henry with Gordon giving him an approving smirk.

"That's right. You guys aren't gonna believe where Christopher's from. Apparently, he's from a place where engines don't talk," piped in Thomas, with a tone in his voice suggesting he was about to laugh. None of the other did, however, as shown by the confused looks on some of their faces.

"Engines don't talk?" asked Percy, sounding somewhat horrified.

"Well, no…" said Christopher, bluntly.

"But, how do you people discuss things like politics with them?" James asked.

"Well, engines don't really talk politics."

"Oh, I understand. Not a very polite subject," said Edward.

"No, they don't have minds. They can't think at all,"

"…so they're just controlled by drivers? Even when not on duty? Like slaves?" Percy asked, now clearly not liking this conversation at all.

"No, not like slaves. Engines aren't human."

This statement clearly did not jell well with the other engines (excluding Thomas and Gordon) as they adopted an offended look on all their faces. Christopher only realized his poor choice of words too late as their replies echoed their looks.

"Engines aren't human?"

"Of course they are!"

"How can you say such a thing?

"What are we then, animals?"

"Mates! Mates!" piped in Thomas, wanting to stop, what he thought, was just an overreaction. "Of course we're not humans. Just look at us. We're machines. But why does it matter? We talk like humans, we think like humans. We have wants like humans? Don't We? So why does it matter we're not humans?"

His words seemed to be reaching the others as there were silences and nods of realization among them.

"Besides, there's one thing we engines have that humans don't. We never age."

"Really?" asked Christopher, genuinely curious.

"Nope. Take Gordon. He's every bit as old and pompous as he was 2 years ago," Percy laughed.

"Hmph! And you're every bit as young and insufferable cheeky as you were 3 years ago!" Gordon replied.

"And if we never age, we never die and if we never die, we'll never stop being useful," Thomas continued as if the interruption never happened.

Christopher nodded, simply not having the heart to tell Thomas what was really in store for him and his friends if some of them could even be called his friends.

"That's true. Sorry. I just used the wrong words there," he said politely. All these interactions told him that however long he was remaining on this island, he was somewhat dreading what could have happened during his stay.


	7. A Useful Day

Right at that moment, Sir Brown and walked out of the office with Jane. He held a clipboard in his hand and cleared his throat.

"All right. It appears you've all met Christopher. Now I have the assignments for you all."

Most of the engines, Thomas especially, seemed very enthusiastic about hearing what Sir Brown had to give him, albeit for very different reasons.

"Gordon will be taking passengers from Knapford to Cronk and back."

"Naturally," chortled Gordon.

"Toby will be taking the milk from Crosby to Wellsworth."

"Thank you, sir"

"Edward will be bringing the newspapers all over the branch line."

"Delighted sir."

"Percy will be making rounds all over Arlesdale Green for whatever is appropriate,"

"All right!"

"James will be shunting at Knapford,"

"Again?!"

"Henry will be accompanying Gordon after he gets his special coal."

"Of course!" 

"And….for Thomas…" Sir Brown said in a sing-song voice as Thomas practically beamed.

"You and Jane will be delivering the passengers from Kildale and Kellsthrope Road with Jane."

"Oh, thank you, sir!" Thomas chirped through his whistle.

"And Christopher, would you like to join in?"

"Um….sure."

And so, as the other engines dispersed, Christopher and Jane both climbed into Thomas as Jane began driving Thomas to their destination, a junction right by a huge, long station with two large glass dome ceilings called Knapford with crowds of people on the platforms. They approached two small wooden passenger carts, also with each face and voice (somewhat snooty ones at that), whom Thomas introduced as Annie and Clarabel, and hooked them up to Thomas. 

James, who was at that junction with his driver in tow and bringing large passenger carts to the station was grumbling.

"Me shunting, again! Does this paint look like I belong in a junction?!"

"It takes much more than paint to earn such a job, James. Not everyone can pull five times their size as I can," bragged Gordon as his driver hitched him to the carts.

"Actually, you're wrong, Gordon," added in Henry, causing Gordon to raise an eyebrow at first. "NO ONE can pull five times their size as you can," The two immediately started laughing while James just scowled. As their drivers took them out of the station with their cargo after the passengers hopped in.

Edward was nearby. "Don't worry, James. Red is still a wonderful color," he tried to assure his friend as he passed by and out of the station.

"But what's the point if no one can see it?" James replied miserably.

"Oh, stop your boileraching will you? I always pull the smallest trains and you don't hear me complaining," Percy piped indignantly.

"Yeah, well you're a sickly green!"

Meanwhile, in Thomas's cab, Christopher was trying to make small talk.

"So, Jane. You're Thomas's only driver?" Christopher asked.

"Yeah. And his fireman. My father insists I be so, " she replied as she climbed back into the cab and started on the controls.

"Why?"

After a brief pause, Jane responded. "…..dunno. Guess he figures I'm good at it."

"I'll say you are! All the others change drivers, but not her. And all the engines can drive themselves, but I'm too young for that. She's been looking out for me for so long. She's my big sister!" Thomas piped in happily. Jane simply gave a small (though somewhat forced) smile.

Eventually, Thomas, Christopher, Jane, and Annie & Clarabel were on their way. Throughout the entire trip, Christopher peeped out the doorway to see the island he was going to be living in for a while, at least he hoped so. He could not believe what he was seeing. Throughout the next hour, as Thomas was carrying on with his work, they went up huge hills, past fields of green, over bridges and dams, around a massive lake, and through grey and mountains that seemed to reach to the sky. He had never seen such vistas while in Britain in years. All he had known the last few months were the ruined buildings and blown-up streets. Here, he felt like he had just entered a new planet, sort of a Heaven if you will. He felt like he could very much get used to this island, even if he was not completely accustomed to all its inhabitants.

But there was also much to look at INSIDE the cab as well. The way Jane was able to work every single control in front of her was positively mesmerizing to him. If she could go move her arms any faster, he could have sworn she had an extra pair of arms. He only wished he had the chance to drive like that sometime soon to start becoming the engineer his father was.

The day went on, apparently to Christopher, as usual. Passengers and cargo were delivered, cargo was dropped off, and he was introduced to even more talking engines (including a pair of Scottish engines named Donald and Douglas, a small green one named Duck, odd name Christopher found, and a quite devious looking Diesel) and even a talking Bus named Bertie who seemed somewhat competitive when he would constantly egg Thomas on to race him. According to Thomas, anything that moved on this island could speak. Except for tugboats because that would be ridiculous.

Eventually, the day was drawing to an end and all the seven engines came home to rest. But not before describing the work they did that day to Sir Brown at Tidmouth.

"You see sir, there I was with all six full carts behind me and in fell through one of the windows, a leaf. Which means I was able to carry 5.01 times my weight. Isn't that right, Henry?"

"It is so Gordon!"

"Ummmm….impressive, boys. Now let's see….ah yes, Thomas. Any troubles Jane?"

"None whatsoever father," she replied, climbing out the cab and pecking him on the cheek.

"Yeah! I thought we could pull an extra two more trucks so we did!" Thomas chirped.

Sir Brown's smile could only expand when he heard this.

"Did you? Well, I think that earns you half of your workload suspended tomorrow."

"What? Are you sure sir, because I'm certain I can…." Thomas replied frowning.

"No, No. I insist. Problem is, who shall be working on that half?"

"I can do that sir," Edward intervened, to the apparent chagrin of his driver walking away.

"Are you quite sure, Edward? Those trucks have been extra troublesome lately."

"Oh, I'm certain. It won't be the first time they cause an accident. Or second. Or third. Or ninth but, anyway, I am up for a challenge this time!" His driver was practically stomping on his way off the station.

"Very well then. Goodnight everybody," Sir Brown replied as he and Jane started to enter their quarters on the station.

"Of course, he would give you half the day off…..He's always liked you best," said Gordon bitterly to Thomas.

"Has he?" Christopher queried.

"Of course he has! Ever since he named us!"

"Yeah, like, he gave the rest of us names completely out of the blue but OH NO. He just HAD to give Thomas a special one," Henry added. Thomas's only response was an uneasy look. This antagonizing was clearly not wanted.

"Now, Now. Let's not get hostile here," Toby chimed in. "Perhaps our names all mean something. Like….how Thomas always keeps his promises. James is as red as flames, Edward is kind and never awkward."

"And Gordon brings nothing but boredom!" Percy added, much to Gordon's apparent annoyance.

"Well, Percy…whenever you shut up…it's a…..mercy."

"….yeah, leave the cheek to me mate."

After his first day in a train cab in years, Christopher was finally settled into bed. His fascination in this place had already increased by then, hoping that tomorrow would be just as fulfilling.


	8. An Interesting Proposal

The week past and Christopher found himself getting more and more in tune with the Island of Sodor. Now, Edward's compliments, Gordon's boasts, Henry's brownnosing, James's complaints, Percy's wisecracks, and Toby's wise advice became everyday music and whenever he had the chance to hop aboard Thomas and watch Jane drive him, he took it, longing to be in the same spot as she was. The only problem was, he was not contributing in any way, something Sir Brown took upon himself to change.

On a fine Sunday, at Cronk station, Christopher was sitting on a bench, waiting for whatever engine to pass by so he could marvel at them some more, Sir Brown approached him. 

"Christopher. I believe I have a job for you. You can't just stay here on Sodor doing nothing until it's safe to go home. So, I've decided that you will work as a painter."

"A painter?"

"Yes. It's safe, productive, and just the perfect job for a boy your age."

"….I dunno."

"Don't worry. How can you possibly bugger that up?"

And so, Christopher found himself in overalls on scaffolding on top of Knapford station, trying to paint the new sign that was being placed upon it. Everything seemed to be going just fine…until he accidentally knocked over a bucket with his foot, and down the paint went into James' funnel, which led to quite an explosion of green when James let out his usual boastful blow, all over his recent new red coat and Gordon who was right by, and a quip from Percy about how pleased he was to see his color being spread to the other engines.

After this unfortunate mishap, Christopher found himself in a usual newspaper boy and hat, again on Knapford station, handing out paper after paper. Everything seemed to be going just fine…until he decided to toss one over quite a distance to a customer, leading it to hit Edward right and the eye and causing him to crash right into Henry.

Then Christopher found himself behind a luggage cart, again at Knapford station, helping people bring their suitcases to the train. Everything seemed to be going just fine, until he was told by an impatient passenger to push the cart too fast, leading him to fall down, and it to fly off the platform and onto the track, causing Percy to chug over it and send hats, shirts, and undergarments all over the people in the station.

The next thing Christopher knew, he was on a completely different station, with a huge pile of flyers by him and some pins. And that was his new job; putting up posters, which was a job that you would have to try to mess up...unless pushing the pin accidentally into your finger counted as messing up.

His "new job" went on through the next few weeks. He hopped from station to station, placing posters on any bulletin board there was to put them on. He would catch sight of just about all the engines that were "harmed" by his little accidents, and they would avoid any conversation with the poor boy.

One day, Christopher felt that it was time for a break. So he sat on the bench on which he was told was Edward's station, after pinning up his 734th poster since taking the job. 

Meanwhile, Thomas was chugging with Jane in his cab. He noticed the autumn leaves beginning to fall. 

"Aren't the leaves beautiful, Jane?" He asked wistfully. "They're like falling red and yellow stars." 

"Red and yellow stars....," Jane whispered to herself and sneaked in that little description in her notepad.

"Hello there, Christopher!" peeped Thomas in his usual, and frankly in Christopher's opinion, annoying at this point, cheerful tone.

"….Hi," the boy replied solemnly.

"How's that job going for you?"

"Well, it's…..it's a job, I suppose,"

"Well, let's hope you enjoy doing it," Jane replied, holding up a newly delivered newspaper with the headline "NAZIS CONTINUE RAID ON BRITAIN". "Looks like you're gonna be here a while."

Christopher replied with a soft moan.

"Hey, Hey. Don't worry. That just means you have more time to keep up your brilliant poster…putting up. It is marvelous what you're capable of…." Thomas said as he tried to lighten things up. Obviously, he was only making it worse because Christopher then broke down into tears.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Jane asked consolingly as she sat next to the weeping boy.

"I….I can't….keep doing this," replied Christopher through sobs.

"Of course, you can. Why just look at your handiwork…." Thomas naively said.

"Oh sure. And I bet within the next few months, I'll be covering the entire island in posters!" replied Christopher bitterly. 

"That's the spirit!" said Thomas, far too optimistically. 

"Thomas, please!" Jane said irritably. Thomas fell silent, taken aback by her anger.

"My uncle was right. If I can't be a soldier I really AM useless," moaned Christopher.

Jane was clearly saddened to hear the lad this upset, but Thomas looked as if tears were about to run up into his eyes. Anyone saying they had no use was clearly something he couldn't stand to hear. As Jane rubbed Christopher's back, he simply had to say something.

"H….hey, that's not true…..come on, there has to be something you're good at."

"Well…..I….I think I can be a good train engineer. I learned a lot from my dad and…reading about it."

Looks of disappointment appeared on both the others' faces.

"…..oh," was Thomas's only reply.

"You see? I have to wait another 6 years until I can do so. What am I supposed to do until then?"

"Maybe you won't have to wait that long…." Came an unexpected voice as Toby chugged in. Clearly, he was listening in and was just waiting to give his usual advice.

"Thomas, why don't you let Christopher drive you?"

Christopher's eyes grew somewhat at this suggestion. A boy his age? Actually, start driving now?

Why not?" he thought. Thomas certainly did not agree.

"Absolutely not. He's way too young…he can't drive me!" he responded in an unbelieving tone.

"Well, everyone has to start somewhere….and Jane, you can be right there to teach him," The wise tram engine replied.

Thomas had a look of realization on his face. He looked into Christopher's red and puffy eyes as the two began to like this idea very much.

"No. I'm sorry, Toby. I can't risk any accident to happen," Jane said. "And besides, driving Thomas is my job...."

She seemed to have an epiphany herself. She then smiled as she looked at the boy.

"Christopher. How about I give you a little lesson?"


	9. Christopher's Day Out

Soon, Thomas was called to Knapford with Jane and Christopher in tow. There, Sir Brown gave him his next assignment. He was to deliver some coal from Maron to Cronk. This was perfect to Jane because it was far enough for her father to not see what they were doing-giving Christopher his first training session.

And so, all three went to Maron. Along the way, Christopher could not help but notice something he had not realized existed-a fork in the tracks that led to a place covered by a mysterious fog.

"What IS that place," Christopher asked Jane.

"It's somewhere Sir Brown told us not to go," Thomas responded before Jane could answer.

"Why?"

"Because Sir Brown told us not to go…."

Eventually, they made it to Maron. They were surrounded by a thick forest that proved to be an even greater place from any suspicious eyes. There was the line of three trucks filled with coal and so Jane connected them to Thomas's back and climbed back into his cab.

"Alright. Christopher, let's see what you know. Start 'er up."

She stepped aside to let the lad approach the levers and knobs for the first time. Seeing such a wonderful and intricate display was enough to give him memories of his father's driving lessons. What he had to do came to him almost recently.

"It's alright if you don't get it at first. I didn't understand it all before," Jane said and then, before she knew it, the boy was pulling just the right levels after shoveling the right amount of coal from Thomas's box at the very back, and they were off.  
Jane just stood there stunned. He really WAS a professional at this.

"Ve…very good. Now, remember to keep him at just the…."

"Right speed. I know. Wouldn't want him to overheat with this load," Christopher interrupted. He moved one dial to the left and Thomas was decreasing in speed.

Thomas couldn't quite believe it either. For these past few years, he thought only Jane knew how to handle his unique machinery. He realized he was going to miss her driving him but if it meant giving Christopher something to work his magic on, it was worth it.

"Fire and smoke, Christopher….this is your first time driving?"

"Uh-huh. At least for real. I never drove one outside a junction,"

"Oh, you'll be driving outside much more than that.

For the next half hour, Christopher needed very little help from Jane. He already knew how to break, how to maintain the right amount of pressure when carrying any load, which speed to go by when going up hills, how to turn on the lanterns down tunnels, and how much coal to throw into the furnace, never throwing in too much or too little. They soon made their delivery and began to turn around.

"Very good, Christopher!" remarked Jane. "Now, remember. Never go too fast, or you might blow a fuse."

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" bellowed the unexpected voice of Sir Brown from behind them, causing them to break. Sure enough, there he was riding Toby who approached Thomas on the next track with a sorry look on his face.

Jane and Christopher stepped out and Sir Brown climbed down from Toby, who explained that Sir Brown noticed that Jane forgot her work gloves, and approached Toby to bring him to her to give them back, forcing him to come out and say what he persuaded the three to do.

"I expected better advice from an engine like you, Toby," Said Sir Brown sternly before turning to his daughter. "And better judgment from you, Jane. You know Christopher's too young to drive an engine. What if something happened to Thomas?"

"Dad, please. He's amazing at it. If you just give him the chance to…" Jane said, desperately.  
"It is your responsibility as Thomas's sister…."

"I'm not his sister!"

Christopher saw Thomas's face take on a hurt look as Jane said that. He had always seen her as his guardian and the idea that his love for her wasn't reciprocated appeared to be devastating. Sir Brown seemed to agree for his face appeared shocked at his daughter's words. Jane realized what she just said and stomped away angrily inside Thomas's cab.

"Toby! You are to be on your way! I'll be going home with these three!" Sir Brown barked.

"Yes sir," Toby replied, clearly wishing he didn't have to hear that ugly exchange. The three humans hopped aboard Thomas who bitterly chugged along, Toby by his side. The two engines approached a bridge and, before anyone knew it, the wood between Thomas's front and back wheels gave and he was sandwiched between the two halves of the bridge fifty feet over the water below.

The people inside him started to panic and ran to the back, afraid of what was going to happen to them. Toby, who was already at the other side of the bridge stopped in terror after hearing so much pandemonium.

"Oh dear, what's happened?"

"The bridge gave!" Thomas yelled.

"What are we going to do?!" Jane shouted.

"Quick, Jane! Get us out of this!" Sir Brown shrieked.

But before Jane could run to the controls, Christopher dashed up to them.

Sir Brown was just about to bellow "What are you doing, boy?!" but before he did so, the lad started pushing the right lever and slowly, before all three knew it, Thomas was safely on the other side of the bridge as the wood behind him fell into the river.

After catching their breaths from the sheer panic, Jane and especially Sir Brown remained awestruck at what just happened as Christopher turned around. She turned to him with a somewhat smug look on her face.

"Still think he's too young?"

"Well, that WAS very impressive…oh very well. He can drive Thomas."

The frowns that were there on the other four quickly turned into smiles. Christopher could finally do something on this island besides putting up posters, Jane, could now follow her true passion and write, Thomas, helped a boy find his calling, and someone finally took Toby's advice.  
Along the way, Thomas couldn't stop peeping happily.

"Just think what the others will think of this! They'll find it so…so…."


	10. Sodor's First Child Conductor

"Disgraceful!" said Gordon.

"Disgusting!" said James.

"Despicable!" said Henry.

"You have to admit, Thomas. A child driver doesn't seem very proper," Edward carefully piped in as the five engines huddled near Knapford junction.

"Never mind Proper! You haven't even seen him drive! He's a natural!" Thomas obstinately protested.

"That is true, guys. If Christopher really is that good…." Edward said to the other three.

"Sure, at pulling coal carts and such, but professionally, he doesn't stand a chance," Henry retorted.

"I suppose it wouldn't be very safe, Thomas," Edward said.

"Then he can learn on the job!"

"He has a point, you three. You can't chug until you've learned how to creep."

"Nor can you crash an entire train full of people," James said.

"Well, I can't argue with that, Thomas, accidents CAN happen."

"Not when he's around!"

"What is all this commotion?" asked Christopher as he approached the bickering engines, in his new engineer uniform. Since there were no other drivers his size, there had to be a special one made for him.

"Oh, the indignity," Gordon rolled his eyes seeing the boy in clothes he thought were far from suited for him.

"These amateurs don't think you have what it takes, Christopher,"

"I do…." Said Edward sheepishly, facing the glares from the others.

"What's say we prove them wrong, huh?" Thomas answered excitedly. "Annie and Clarabel aren't gonna pull themselves."

"I couldn't agree more," the lad replied as he climbed into Thomas's cab.

"Well, at least you have the distinction to be the first driver who'll need a booster seat" Henry quipped, causing his two mates to laugh.

Over the next few weeks, Thomas and Christopher hit it off tremendously. There was no train that proved too much for the boy due to his knowledge of the engine's workings and although the loads could be somewhat of a challenge, it was exactly the kind of thing that motivated him to push himself further and further. They could even find other ways to stay useful like bring an escapee cow get back to its yard, or bringing Sir Brown his medicine.

Even off duty, the two loved spending time together, whether it was beating Bertie the Bus at their little races, due to Christopher looking up quicker railways, or simply training for work, where they would test Thomas's strength and speed with a stopwatch, Christopher proved to be the perfect coach as their new record had gotten beaten over and over again.

The two remained the best of friends throughout the winter. Then, one early morning, near the big station by the sea, they were just about to begin a shipment of newspapers, they heard a horrible crash that echoed throughout the harbor. They saw that Henry, who had been sent there to retrieve the flying kipper, with which fish was usually spread throughout Sodor, had had an accident and now was lying down in snow and frozen tears. 

"The snow had forced the signals down," explained Henry to Sir Brown as he came to see the damage. Thomas and Christopher were right by to see it themselves. "I'm sorry, sir," he wailed.

"You're going to be, Henry," said Sir Brown in a reassuring voice. But when he was outside of hearing distance from Henry, he spoke with his Henry's driver and fireman who had more grave things to say. 

"His firebox is completely destroyed," the driver said. 

"And he's been bent everywhere," said the fireman. Sir Brown seemed devastated to hear this.

"I suppose this means we'll have to send him to the scra...." 

"No, you don't!" said Christopher who was with them, with Thomas still nearby. "Just send him to Crewe, where all the sick engines go. And I've read somewhere about how to make a new, up-to-date firebox. He'll feel like a different engine and he won't need special coal again!" 

And everything he suggested went accordingly, much to Henry's relief. With the instructions Christopher remembered, he would be on the tracks all over again, and he and all the engines would be spared an awful truth. 

Eventually, on a crisp evening in the middle of March, the two found themselves at the harbor, (Thomas's favorite spot on the whole island) dropping off an entire tank of milk. Before they returned to the shed, they figured they might as well enjoy the view to cap off another productive day.

While taking in the scenery, Christopher couldn't help but notice Sir Brown and Jane sitting on a bench 50 feet away from them. After given them a reciprocated wave, he asked: "what are they doing here?"

"Oh, that's right. it's the anniversary of our, well Jane's mother's death…" Thomas answered sadly. He clearly still wasn't over Jane not seeing herself as his sister, despite all the years of her as his driver.

Over the past few weeks, Jane had allowed her hair to grow out and was dressed in more conservative attire with a skirt and buttoned-down blouse. Ever since Christopher took over her duties as Thomas's driver, she had been writing practically non-stop and was sharing her latest poem with her father, who was reading it.

"For even as the sun fades, all other lights shine brighter in its absence, preserving its memory throughout the darkness," he read with tears running down his face. "You write just like her. I'm so sorry to keep you from doing this all these years."

"Thank you, father. It's alright", said his daughter gently patting his shoulder.

He looked out in the distance at his side as Christopher and Thomas sat.

"Thomas would have loved her so much."

"Yes, yes he would. The real Thomas…." said Jane somewhat sternly.

Sir Brown was about to protest but immediately stopped himself from doing so. He shared Thomas's sadness.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"What WAS your mother like, Thomas?" Christopher asked the engine.

"Dunno, she died years before I was born."

"Oh…I'm so sorry…..my mother when I was young, too. But I still had my dad. And at least you still have yours….." the boy responded sadly. Thomas came to a realization as he looked up at Sir Brown.

"…..You know. I guess...if there is one thing about never dying, it's that you have to watch everyone around you die…..soon, I'll have to say goodbye to Sir Brown and Jane and…."

"….me?"

…..yeah…"

"But...you'll still have Percy, an-and James and Edward and…"

"…even Gordon?" Thomas laughed.

"Even Gordon." Christopher laughed along. "And again, you can all be useful forever. Unlike us, humans, remember?"

"Yeah, but that's another thing. We have all the time in the world to be useful. You humans only have a few years. I guess you just really to make the most of it…"

"Hold on…that gives me an idea," Thomas said excitedly much to Christopher's intrigue.

"Hey! Sir Brown!"


	11. Chapter 11: Budding Relationships

"Thomas, are you sure about this?"

"Absolutely, Percy. Sir Brown is completely fine with it. Besides, Christopher needs to drive all the other engines on this island if he wants to be as useful as he can."

"Yeah, and what better one to start with than you?"

Thomas, Christopher, and Percy were at Crosby station as the lad climbed into a reluctant Percy's cab.

"All right. Just….do be careful, Christopher."

"You have nothing to worry about! Now be nice to him while Fergus drives me," and with that, he chugged away.

The rest of the day went swimmingly, much to Percy's surprise after Christopher's clumsiness just a few weeks ago. Eventually, while the two were at Wellsworth, they saw that Gordon was there who did not approve of the sight at all.

"Really, Percy. Are you so simple that even a child could drive you?" he chortled.

"Well, at least the ADULT drivers don't find me so pompous, they hate driving me!" Percy cheeked.

"They love driving me! Isn't that right boys?" Gordon asked the two engineers that were on the station platform.

"Oh, we certainly do Gordon!" one of them responded.

"Oh, that reminds me. You're driving him tomorrow again," the other driver reminded.

"But I…..daaahh!" The first one complained.

"See?" Gordon said "you'll never see me being churned around by some urchin. I'm much too strong and dignified for that."

As Percy rolled his eyes, Christopher couldn't help but chip in.

"Well, Gordon. If you're so strong, why don't you start pushing yourself more?"

"Because that would be boasting and there's nothing dignified about that. Now, have fun driving the weakest little worm on this whole island, boy," Gordon said as he puffed away.

"Oh, don't worry he will!" Percy said in a usually defiant manner, but as soon as Gordon was out of sight, his smug face suddenly had a more hurt and attacked look to it.

Christopher then realized that all these quips and cheek that he had been showing to Gordon was meant to hide Percy's true feelings about his insults. He intended to cure that.

"Absolutely not! You can't make me!"

"Percy, you have to start pushing yourself!' Christopher responded as hitched the 10 trucks to Percy and climbed back into his cab.

"You heard what Gordon said! I'm too we…", but before he can finish that word, Christopher pulled the rights levers and controls and there Percy was; chugging along with about 4 times his weight. He could do it all along. He could feel the tears forming in his eyes.

"You were saying?" Christopher asked from the cab, knowing from Percy's silence that he succeeded in showing him the truth.

"Christopher…I….thank you!" the little engine said with pure joy.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Eventually, Christopher and Edward were cruising down to Knapford with three of those ever so troublesome trucks in tow.  
"Poor Edward! So timid, he'll let a kid drive him!"

"Next, they'll allow babies to drive these engines!"

"Well, they already allowed that girl so why not?"

Edward simply chugged along and took it, not even attempting to raise his voice to them. But as soon as they started to swing and bump back and forth, Christopher had to take action. He slammed Edward's breaks which caused quite the commotion as the trucks jostled around. He then took a piece of wood, stuck it briefly into Edward's boiler, took it back out with it on fire and ran out of the cab and by the first truck, with the wood still burned.

"Now you trucks will either shut up and behave or I will start lighting you all on fire!"

"You wouldn't dare…."

Christopher showed just how serious he was and held the fire mere inches from the truck's wood.

"O.K! O.K! We'll stop! We'll behave! Honest!"

Christopher then went back to the cab, still with the fire in tow, and resumed driving a stunned Edward along.

"Was that necessary?" Edward asked.

"You'll be surprised what a firm grip can get you…"

"I already am…." Edward couldn't help smile somewhat. His smile widened as the trucks ceased making noise and trouble the entire way.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Christopher and James pulled into Tidmouth and as they stopped, their passengers stepped out, amazed at the skill of the youngest driver in Sodor. As soon as he got out, they all crowded him, asking him how he was able to do all this at such a young age. Just before he was going to answer, he couldn't help but notice James' face that showed the feeling of being left out and ignored.

"Well, it took some skill and knowledge, but I couldn't have done it without such a strong, reliable engine."

James's eyes widened at the kindness of his words.

"Why, yes. I suppose he is quite reliable….."

"And such splendid paint too."

"He should pull just as much as Henry AND Gordon!"

As they continued their praise, Christopher flashed a smile at James, which was reciprocated just as warmly.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Oh no! There are those boys up on that bridge!" Henry "lamented" in his brand new shape as he and Christopher were getting even closer under the bridge as those naughty boys held up those rocks to throw at them. "Whatever shall I do?"

But just before the rocks dropped, Christopher tugged on Henry's whistle, causing a great bellow of steam that shrouded the boys in mist and coal.

Henry and Christopher couldn't stop laughing the entire way, even when they arrived at Fharquhar.

"That was brilliant! Did you see those boys? They were as black as…."

"Henry!" bellowed a disbelieving voice as Gordon crept nearby.

"Oh, um…Gordon. I know how it looks but…"

"I thought you were stronger than this!" the big blue engine said indignantly while Christopher simply ignored him as he walked away.

"I'm sorry, Gordon. I was just curious is all. He helped heal me after my crash, He really is a talent."

"Even so, a "talent" has no business driving an engine as strong as you," Gordon said has the two drove away. "You will never one as strong as…" but before he could finish, an owl swooped right by his face, causing him to stop right there and make quite the fuss.

"AHHH! GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF ME!"

"Gordon, it's just an owl!" Henry replied as the owl flew away and Gordon started blushing a bright crimson.

"Mention this to anyone and you will consider yourself very lucky we don't have arms!" he threatened.


	12. Your Own Voice

Just before he was about to step into Toby at Cronk station, Christopher had to say something to the tram engine.

"Toby, I…..I just want to say thank you. If you hadn't told Thomas to let me drive him…."

"Oh, it was nothing, lad. That's just what I do. You're meant to drive trains. I'm meant to give advice. At least, when it's wanted," Toby replied. "If anything, I should thank YOU for giving me the chance to help out. Before you came here, only Thomas and Percy listened to me. 

Everyone else thinks I'm just a senile, old, pile of wood," he laughed.  
Christopher laughed along as he climbed into Toby's cab.

"Old, you? Why you're just like the oth….", before he could finish that sentence, he gawked at the ancient controls that stood in front of him.  
"Tram engines…Tram engines….Tram engines," Christopher muttered to himself as he browsed the shelf at the library. He had been told by Sir Brown that there was a section on train operations, should he have needed extra research, which Christopher rather arrogantly replied that he wouldn't need any, given all the information he had devoured when he was younger and still learning from his father. Even as he felt rather embarrassed by his recently discovered lack of knowledge on the subject of tram engines, he couldn't help but feel a certain thrill in knowing even more about trains.

As he was searching, he heard a combination of a typewriting clicking, paper ripping, and frustrated grumbling. He searched for the source and came across Jane, still dressed very conservatively in a skirt and blouse, typing away with a wastebasket full of crumpled up paper nearby.

Christopher cleared his throat which caused her to jump slightly.

"Oh, hello there," she said.

"Hello. I didn't expect to see you here."

"Well, I've been here every day since I stopped driving Thomas. It's my favorite place on the whole island….for obvious reasons," Jane chuckled. "So, how's your new job? I've heard you're driving all the engines now."

"I'm starting too. It's so wonderful. And I see you've started typing. "  
"Well, drafting, more like. I'm in the middle of kind of a writer's block. I've haven't done my best material as you can see," she nodded to the wastebasket.

"Oh, come now. I'm sure you have some gems here," said Christopher as he dug through the basket and pulled out a paper to read one of her creations. "Like…'stoke up the magic in the mountain and the lady will smile…'"

"Like I said. Drafting. It's so strange too. All those years as Thomas's engineer, I had just the most amazing stories. But now I've written all of them down and I can't think of anything good…." Jane said in frustration.

"Well, give it some time I'm sure you'll find your voice like I did."

"Yeah. I guess I just have to wait for that muse to come to me."

As Christopher went back to the bookshelf to look for that tram book, he froze.

"Your own voice…" he muttered to himself. He ran outside of the library and try to find out where Mr. Brown was.


	13. A Lone Engine

"Please sir, I know that if I could just pull a few extra coaches…."

"For the last time Percy, I'm not risking you getting hurt!"

Sir Brown was escorting Christopher to Thomas as he was rebuffing Percy's requests, causing the smaller engine to chug along sadly.

It had been a couple of months since the lad had started driving the other engines, after getting used to being Thomas's conductor and fireman, leaving the latter to be driven by other engineers on the island. Now the two had finally reunited and were approaching Annie and Claribel at Knapford junction. After Christopher hooked the carts to Thomas, the two then chugged to Marron station where the passengers hustled and bustled onto the express.

"All right, Christopher, let's get going!" Thomas peeped cheerfully. His proclamation was greeted, however, but utter silence and absolutely no action from the boy.

"Christopher, I said 'let's go.' It's already 10:00," said Thomas. Still, nothing happened.

"Christopher, what's going on in there?' Claribel asked.

"I'm not going to pull this train. Thomas is," Christopher replied.

"What?!" asked a bewildered Thomas.

"Yep. I think it's time you took over and did this on your own."

"Christopher, now's not the time for this."

"It's the perfect time for this."

"I'm not going to argue with you. Now let's go, the passengers will be restless."

"Then don't argue with me and start pulling."

"Christopher!"

"It's time you knew what it feels like to do things on your own."

"Can't we do it when we don't have work to do?"

"Hey, what's keeping you?! I got an appointment in 30 minutes!" asked a passenger peeking his head from one of Annie's windows.

"Well, better give them what they want Thomas," Christopher said with his arms folded inside the cab.

"Um….All right," Thomas replied. He had never done with without any guidance from Jane or the other drivers. 

Nevertheless, he pushed his own acceleration lever and off he went with his two cabs tow. The only problem was he was going a touch too fast.

"Easy, Thomas easy. You don't have to go this fast with such a small load," Christopher politely lectured.

"Sorry, Sorry," replied the engine as he moved the lever down to where he was coming to a slog.

"Not that slow!"

"Sorry."

Through a bit of trial-and-error (the passengers were beginning to question why a child was allowed to drive an engine, to begin with) Thomas finally found the proper pace to carry two full carts without overheating or going so slow, the passengers would become impatient. He kept this pace steady, which was largely due to the fact that the trip was a fairly flat one without any hills and only the occasional tunnel. It amazed both him and Christopher that after all those years of being guided by a human, he was actually able to pull a train by himself.

It was only on their next train where things got a little more complicated. After dropping off Annie and Claribel, they moved on to their next assignment, which pulling basic coal trucks. There were much more hills this time, which meant Thomas had to really know how much to slow down when they went downhill, and how much to speed up when they went uphill. Miraculously, he was able to manage both, gaining a new sense of freedom that he never had with Christopher or Jane. He even started making his own decisions, like which routes to take to reach their destination. Instead of the faster route, he decided to have Christopher switch the tracks to the other one, where he knew there was an extra, empty car for them to use, then he could speed up the slower route to make up for the lost time. For the first time, he was truly his own engine, and he couldn't be more proud of himself. Neither could Christopher.

Meanwhile, at two nearby water towers, Percy, Gordon, Henry, and James were enjoying a nice soothing drink when Thomas and Christopher were coming through them.

Much to their shock, Christopher jumped right of Thomas's cab, causing James to spit the water that was pouring into him right of his tank.

"What the devil are you doing, boy?!" he screamed as Thomas chugged along with his trucks and no driver.  
"This is what we all thought would happen! Children allowed to drive leads to engines pulling trains on their own! Anarchy! Chaos! What a slippery slope!" Gordon shouted hyperbolically.

"He's fine! Anyone think they can drop me off at Cronk?" The boy asked.


	14. Memories

15 minutes later, Thomas entered Cronk station with the trucks in tow. Toby was right by.

"Ah, hello Thomas. Hello Christopher. Glad to be together again, are you?" the old tram engine asked politely.

Thomas was about to respond when Percy approached came up with Christopher in his cab. The boy leaped off onto the platform saying "Oh, you can say that."

"Christopher?! But if you were on Percy than who was just driving Thomas?" Toby asked, genuinely curious.

"Myself!" Thomas answered excitedly.

"What?!"

"You heard right!" Percy chirped in.

"But no engine on this island has ever pulled a train by himself."

"Except one! And you're looking at him! Brilliant idea, Christopher!"

"Wait, wait! This was YOUR idea?!" Toby asked Christopher.

"Uh-huh," the lad responded enthusiastically.

"It was amazing too! It was like I was in control! Like I was on my own! Like I was…."

"Human?" Christopher finished for him. Thomas froze at his suggestion.

"I….I suppose so," he replied. Suddenly, an unexpected voice was heard coming outside the station.

"What is all this I'm hearing?" It was from Sir Brown.

It was from there that Thomas explained everything; Christopher making him pull the train by himself, him finding the proper speed and deciding which route to take, and even Christopher hopping from his cab. Sir Brown's reaction, however, was not what anyone else expected. He turned angrily at Christopher.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking?! Do you reckon Thomas could have gotten in an accident because of you? I knew I shouldn't have let you drive him!" he growled and walked towards him.

"But he…"

"You're lucky the Germans are still bombing Britain, or you'd be back there in a heartbeat!"

"Sir, it's all right!" Thomas piped in excitedly. "I can pull a train all by myself! Just think what else I can do on my own."

Sir Brown's face adopted a sadder, more melancholy look.

"That's…..wonderful, Thomas," he replied and sadly walked back to the station. Christopher was shocked by his absolute lack of joy and pride in Thomas.

"Um…sir," Percy said, causing Sir Brown to stop. "Since Thomas can pull trains by himself… would it be unfair if…"

Sir Brown sighed.

"A week. Engines can pull on their own for a week. After that. You're back to being driven. Is that clear?" he said before walking back into the station.

"Crystal, sir!" Percy responded excitedly. He and Toby chugged away, leaving Christopher and Thomas there at the station.  
"I just don't understand…why isn't he happy?!" the boy asked, still flabbergasted.

"He's just concerned for my safety is all."

"So he expects you to be his son forever?"

"Hey, I will always be his son."

"Well, a 'father' should be celebrating his 'son's' successes."

"That's enough, Christopher! He's always been like this, all right? For as long as I can remember."

"As long as you can remember."

"Yes!"

"From when you were born."

"EXACTLY from when I was born."

That night, when there was a buzz of excitement throughout that the shed at the prospect of the engines driving themselves starting tomorrow, Thomas was ruminating on a particular memory of his. One that he has always treasured; when he first met Sir Brown.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

He had opened the eyes that he had just gained. He was on a track, just a few feet away from a cliff. Right next to him, a tall, thin man was sitting on the ground, sobbing. He had never met this man before, but he somehow knew what it meant to hear such crying; that the man was deeply upset about something and he couldn't bear to hear it. He had to say something to help him.

"Excuse me….are you all right,"

The man froze upon hearing his voice. He slowly turned around and he jumped up upon the sight; his red puffy eyes the size of saucers.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
"And here, Thomas, is your big sister, Jane."

Right by him was a young, pretty girl with auburn hair and blue eyes. She appeared to be quite flabbergasted herself upon meeting her "brother".

"In a few days, she'll also be your driver and fireman. She just needs to do some research is all," Sir Brown said.

"Hello there, Jane!" Thomas said, showing his wonderful smile. Her returning smile wasn't quite as enthusiastic.

"…hi," she said meekly.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"This whole island is mine to explore?"

"Of course it is, Thomas!" Sir Brown was in his cab as he chugged along on a grassy field on their way to Maron.

"Can we go there to the left at this fork, then?"

"Um…..except there. You must never go there."

Thomas realized that there was one mystery for him to solve the next day…


	15. James and Percy

"All right, Edward. Just like we practiced," James said as he and Edward were approach Knapford Station from behind while Gordon was being hitched to his express by driver Johnny.

"Must I?" Edward asked sadly.

"Yes, if you want to be a kind friend! Now go on!" James replied. Ever since the previous day, he, like all the other engines in the branch line, was enamored with the idea of driving a train by himself and now he had the opportunity to drive one he thought he more than deserved.

"Very well…," said Edward as he approached Gordon, much to the latter's annoyance.

"Yes? What do you want?" he asked.

"Um….Sir Brown send me to tell you that you much see him at Tidmouth right away," Edward said meekly.

"Oh? What for?"

"He didn't say. He just said it was very urgent so you better go to him right now."

"Very well," Gordon sighed before driving away.

"But what about his train?" asked Johnny who like all the others was relegated to maintenance and assistance for the rest of the week. "Maybe I can get Henry...."

"He's in a ditch...." Edward promptly said.

"Well then, who else is there?!" Johnny cried exasperated. 

James was chugging nearby and cleared his throat.

"You were perfect, Edward! I knew he'd trust you! Thank you!" James said with Gordon's express behind. Edward was chugging along with him looking even sadder than before.  
"You're very welcome, James…," he responded. He had never more ashamed of himself in his life. How could he be persuaded to do something as immoral as a lie to a driver?  
"Oh do lighten up! You have no idea how much this means to me. Imagine me, carrying eight times my weight with no driver AND my red paint glistening in the sun. I mean, tell me with a straight bloody face I don't deserve this!"  
"O.K. You don't deserve this," came a defiant voice as Percy approached the two. James scowled him in reply as Percy had a confused look on him.  
"Oh….OH. You didn't actually want me to say that with a straight face…..all right, let's try again."  
Edward was hiding a snicker.  
"Percy, you're a pain in the caboose, you know that?! I have to do this! It's my destiny," James replied bitterly as he chugged away with his cargo in tow. But before he got even 20 feet, Toby approached him.  
"Let me guess. You're gonna talk me out of this and lecture me on how I shouldn't lie and steal someone else's work. Aren't you?" James said.  
Toby opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself. He had just realized what he should do at this moment.

"Actually, James, I think it's brilliant what you're doing."

"Yeah?" the red engine replied with confusion.

"Yes. You are meant to pull a train like this and if that means telling a few lies then so be it. And you know what? I think if you pulled this up Gordon's hill, that would make you even stronger!"

Edward and Percy's jaws nearly hit the track beneath them as they heard Toby say these things.

"Finally, you say something truthful, old man!" James replied cheerfully as he chugged away and Toby had a little smirk. He had realized from watching Thomas and Christopher that he could not always be there to intervene and give advice. Sometimes, he must let these things run their course and allow others to make decisions by themselves, as well as make mistakes and learn from them. Besides, he had always internally wanted to watch one of these disrespectful engines learn their lessons the hard way and now was his chance.

"You know…all this is giving me an idea!" Percy said excitedly as he peeped happily away to the junction nearby.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Christopher had just finished hitching ten carts to Percy.

"There you are, Percy. That's about….five times your size," he said as he stepped back.

"Thanks! I'm so excited, I can burst!" Percy responded, his enthusiasm causing the boy to smile.  
Just then, Thomas came up into the junction towards Christopher.  
"Thomas! You won't believe this. I'm gonna pull…"

"Yeah, that's great, Percy," Thomas replied curtly, which took Percy somewhat aback. "Hey, Christopher…do you mind coming with me for some….errands?"

"Um….sure," the boy responded as he climbed into his cab, somewhat confused. Thomas went away, leaving Percy behind to fulfill his innermost dream. He too left the junction with his ten trucks in tow.

James's travel was somewhat difficult. Who knew carrying eight times your weight wouldn't be a breeze? Nevertheless, he pushed forward, managing to carry his heavy load through any bridge, tunnel, and field he could. It was, however, when he got to the largest hill in all of Sodor that he met his match, Gordon's hill.

He pulled as hard as he could up the steep hill. He practically sweated with such a heavy load, his wheels almost turning and the needle on his speedometer almost breaking off. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he made to the top. His pride swelled as he felt like roaring a mighty whistle for all the island to hear. But his victory was not to last, for when he went even one inch downhill, he ROCKETED down the hill…..

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" He hollered as he sped down like a roller coaster. He instantly passed what looked like two large green and blue blurs and could have sworn he heard Gordon shout, "JAMES, YOU LITTLE BLITER!", realizing that he was in trouble.

He tried to apply his breaks but it was no use. All it did was cause some sparks to fly and little else. Even when he reached the flat ground, he still went rocketing along. He passed by several stations, water towers, fences, tunnels, and towns. After what felt like five whole minutes, he finally found his stopping point….right into a whole line of tar carts.  
"YOU HAVE CAUSED CONFUSION AND DELAY! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF!" Sir Brown bellowed at James, covered from top to wheel in the sticky black stuff that obscured his once beautiful paint.

"I'm sorry, sir…."

"Forget sorry! You could have destroyed my best carts! Now, away with you….to the engine wash!"

James was quite miserable, chugging along with all that tar on him. He went by station after station, having to endure all the sneers and looks of disgust of passengers who saw the walking mess that passed them, including those who just days ago were admiring his paint. This was the worst POSSIBLE punishment he could get from lying. Eventually, Percy came up to him with a large smile on his face which only made his misery worse.

"Go, ahead! Laugh! Give me one of your usual oh-so witty comments!" James said bitterly.

"James..."

"Oh, you better hurry James or you'll be TARdy!"

"James..."

"Hey James, what's red and black all over...you!"

"James..."

"Oh, look it's James the walking Rorschach test!"

"JAMES!"

"What?!"

"Those were all terrible but I'm just pulling my train here…..all ten carts of it!" said Percy ecstatically.

"What?" James replied. He stopped to let Percy chug by and he then saw that that was exactly how many cars the impish little engine was pulling. He accelerated to keep up.

"How long have you been pulling that?"

"Oh, about as long as you've been pulling your load…"

"An hour ago….?"

"Yep!"

"All over the island?"

"Uh-huh."

"…..Percy, I…..well done….," James replied, genuinely impressed.

"Oh, you think so?" asked Percy surprised.

"Yeah…..I can't even pull that much without….you know," James said gesturing to the oil that was still on him with his eyes.

"It looks good on you though. Your red paint was getting dull. 

"Yeah, I suppose it was!"

Both engines began to laugh heartily together for the first time in ages if at all.


	16. The Horrible Truth

Thomas and Christopher stood right by the switcher before the foreboding track in front of them,  
Christopher pulled the lever and the tracks switched. He then moved the wooden barrier in the middle of the track, climbed into Thomas's cab and the two proceeded.

The fog came closer and closer and Thomas braced himself for what he was kept from seeing these past five years. He didn't know how he would react but it was about time that he knew….

Christopher saw the brakes in front of him and he was practically at war with himself not to pull them. Nevertheless, they went on…..

They were then inside the fog…..

Thomas instinctively switched his lantern on but it was of hardly any use. For about a minute, the only sound that broke the eerie silence was the sound of his wheels turning.  
Before they knew it, they were surrounded by heaps of rusty metal barely covered by the fog; wheels; springs; cylinders; levers; buffers; whistles; domes; boilers; furnaces; funnels; even a giant metal claw in the distance. To Christopher, it felt like he was in London again…..  
Finally, another noise reached them.

Wails.

Along with the piles of scrap, Thomas saw the most horrible sight he had ever seen; engines. Only they weren't like any he had ever seen. There was no paint on them; they had huge, gaping holes in their metal, and they weren't on any tracks. They were on the ground, some even sideways. Some of their wheels looked lopsided, making hem look like they were sinking. Parts of them clearly had fallen off and joined other pieces in the piles.  
And they were moaning.  
"What is this horrible place…..?" Thomas asked.  
"It's a scrapyard….." Christopher replied from the cab.  
"Scrap? What's scrap?"  
"You're surrounded by it. . . .," came a raspy voice.  
Right in front of Thomas was a locomotive, about Gordon's size, that was the worst of all of them because there was only half of him. The rest appeared to have been ripped apart. Any traces of paint had completely vanished and his eyes. His eyes were like that of a madman.  
"There is scrap. They are scrap. I am scrap. EVERYTHING YOU SEE HERE IS SCRAP!" he bellowed. Thomas was positively frozen in his tracks.  
"And I see you've come to disturb our eternal rust, eh?"  
"Eternal rust?"  
Christopher jumped right out of the cab and up to Thomas's front.  
"Thomas, we…..we have to get out of here!"  
"Thomas? They gave you a name did they?" the decrepit engine replied, laughing menacingly.  
"Yes….you don't have one."  
"Does "Rustbucket" count? Or how about, "Waste of perfectly good metal?"  
Thomas couldn't believe what he was hearing anymore.  
"What are all you doing here?! You should all be out there! Pulling trains and being useful!"  
He was met with a horrible rusty laugh in front of him.  
"Do you think we're here by choice?! That we ENJOY being ripped apart and decaying away? We were BORN like this!"  
"Born?"

"Aye, five years ago. This is all we've ever known since. While you and your mates were chugging abound with gleeful abandon, we've been staying here. Never pulled a single cart. Never whistled joyfully," he emphasized this by giving the faintest, hoarsest blow from his whistle. "Never had the sun on our paints. Watching the world go by. Having our whole bodies ripped apart as we stayed awake and screamed.   
Remaining in this hell until the END OF TIME!" He started shaking this way and that as he spoke, causing a wheel to fall to disconnect. He let out a bloodcurdling scream in pain. Christopher was so startled, he rushed back into Thomas, who just stood there, just as horrified. 

Hearing someone go through this was just about the worst experience he had ever had.

"I'm so sorry…." he said sadly, trying not to cry.

"You don't think the same will happen to you?" the rusted engine asked, unbelieving.

"What?"

"Aye, lad. Someday, hopefully soon, you will join us. You and your friends."

Thomas couldn't bear to hear it. The thought of ending up like this caused tears to stream down his face.

"No, we won't…."

"Yes, you will…."

"No, we won't! Isn't that right, Christopher?"

"You're an engine. Aren't ya?"

Thomas sped away.


	17. The End of Everything

Thomas wouldn't stop chugging. He was going so fast that Christopher was forced against the back of his cab with no hope of reaching for his breaks.

Abruptly, Thomas stopped in front of Tidmouth station, causing the boy to fall to the floor.

"Get off!" he demanded in a quite bitter tone.

"What?"

"You heard me!"

Christopher bolted out of the cab and walked right up to Thomas's face. 

"Going there was your id…"

"You knew this all along, didn't you?!"

"Yeah, but…."

"I should NEVER have let you drive me!"  
"So, I should have just stuck to post…"  
"Your uncle was right, you should have been a soldier!"

"I could have died!"

"Beats rusting away, doesn't it?! 

"What in God's name is going on now?!" Sir Brown asked as he and Jane stepped out of the station. Thomas just stood there and gave both of them death glares. He then stormed away.

Christopher just stood there with angry tears cascading his face.

"Christopher? What happened? What's wrong with Thomas?" Jane asked.

"What's it to you? You're not his sister, right?" the boy responded harshly.

"Young man! You tell me what happened this instant!" Sir Brown raised his voice.

"We went to the scrapyard!" Christopher cried.

There was silence among all three of them. Sir Brown put his face in his hands.

"Oh, what have you done, my boy…." he moaned.

"Hey, Thomas! Where have you been?!" James cried out excitedly. He, Percy, Edward, and Toby all approached him near the exact same station Thomas had introduced them to Christopher. All of them wore incredibly bright smiles with Percy's being the best of them all.

"You won't believe what Percy's done!" said Toby.

"It's really quite the feat," said Edward.

"What does it matter?" Thomas grumbled.

"What do you…" James asked before….

'JAMES!"

Gordon and Henry approached the five of them, their faces carrying a look of utter rage. James looked at them defiantly.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TRICKED ME!" Gordon bellowed.

"Thought you'd pull his train, did you?" Henry asked.

"You oughta be pushed off a bridge…"

"Yes, yes. I did trick you and I did pull your train, Gordon. But it was all in vain. Percy, on the other hand, pulled five times his weight!" James retorted enthusiastically.

"….What?" Gordon asked disbelievingly.

"It's true! We all saw him!" Toby added.

"You should have seen it!" Edward said.

"But….but only Gordon can pull that much!" Henry retaliated.

"Until now! What's the matter, Gordon? Upset that you're not the only strong one on this island?" said Percy in his usual impish tone. Gordon's face was becoming redder and redder by the second.

"It doesn't matter…" Thomas said loudly.

"Alright, Thomas what is this talk?" Toby asked.

"I've been to the forbidden place!"

There was silence among the other engines, except for Gordon who looked no less infuriated about his most unique accomplishment being matched.

"Yeah….I've been there. It's a scrapyard! Where engines are torn apart for metal! They can never pull a train again! They are stuck there. Forever! That's what's gonna happen to us! That's what we have to look forward to! Seeing ourselves being useless until the end of time! What does any of our work even amount to?" He then stormed away to the Tidmouth sheds. 

The engines' faces (excluding Gordon, of course) looked more and more shocked as he said all this. Percy, in particular, looked as if he were about to cry. This was his one day to shine. And it all came crumbling down.  
"I wish we WERE human! So we can die!" Thomas cried out in utter dismay.  
"….I wish Percy would die," said Gordon with a tone of ice.  
The other engines, even Henry, looked aghast by what he said. The tears that had been foaming in Percy's eyes suddenly started cascading out by his words and his face crumpled up.

"Gordon!" said Edward.  
"Really now!" said Toby. 

"You take it back! Take it back!" James bellowed to an unmoving Gordon.

Percy began to sob as he bolted away.

"What is wrong with you?!" James asked in sheer anger.

"The little scab deserved it. Come along, Henry," Gordon responded as he chugged away.  
James looked at Henry with sharp anger. Henry sighed and said, "Percy shouldn't have done that, James…"

James looked positively shocked as Henry joined Gordon. He, Endward, and Toby just stood there in confusion, anger, and horror.

He stayed there for about half an hour. His face was just as gray and his eyes just as soaked and red.

"Thomas….," came the voice of Sir Brown as he walked up to him.  
"Christopher told me everything…."

"Oh, did he?"

"Thomas, this is exactly why I told you not to go there. I knew you wouldn't be able to handle all this," said Sir. Brown.

"Handle what? That everything you told me was a lie? That my life has no meaning?"

Sir Brown appeared shocked at his words.

"Thomas….your…..life does have meaning…."

"Not if that's gonna be my future!"

"But…"

I'm never leaving this shed until then! What's even the point anymore?"

"Thomas, please listen…."

"Just go away!"

"Thomas…"

"You're not my father! I hate you!"

Sir Brown stood there with a face of hurt shock. Knowing nothing he said could possibly sway Thomas, he walked away. He climbed into his car, with Jane in the passenger seat, equally at a lost for words.

Thomas remained there for the rest of the day. Never pulling a single car. His face carrying the same darkened scowl.

That night, the usual chats that took place at the shed were replaced by a bitter silence as James kept glaring at Gordon with sheer intensity. He eventually left, so full of disgust, he couldn't bear to stay. Percy's usual space remained vacant. No one had any idea where he was. Gordon's words apparently cut deep.

The next day came and was every bit as ugly. As the engines went to and fro with their work, with a clear decrease in enthusiasm, Thomas remained put. All he could think of the whole day was him crumbling away with all the others around him, screaming and wailing in pain, his parts being thrown on one of the heaps and his metal getting ripped clean off.

The whole day went along exactly like that up to the night. James and Toby gave Henry and Gordon dirty looks and Percy still did not come back.

Christopher just remained at Tidmouth, having no purpose all over again and his most lasting friendship since his father's death now in shambles. Sir Brown was writing out reports with a great deal of sadness.

At the library, Jane stopped typing. She just sat there with her face in her hands.

Things could only get better from here.


	18. Brother and Sister

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter I've wanted to write since I started posting this story. I hope that you will find it really something. Enjoy.

The next day came and Thomas was still sulking in the back of the shed.  


Percy still had not come home yet and Sir Brown knew that something had to be done. He sent James and Edward on a search party around the whole island while Henry and Gordon were to pull the trains. He was to come along onto Toby with Christopher.

Jane entered the library, still feeling completely drained of what has happened in the last couple of days. Seeing Thomas this distressed was painful for her. The once cheerful and loving engine had become a miserable and hateful one. Despite his fears of becoming broken, he already was.

That was when she knew, he had to know the truth. She was tired of constantly lying to him. Suddenly, her writer's block had ceased. For good.

She was just about to type away, then she realized…..no. She had to tell it to him face-to-face.

Thomas sat there in his shed, miserable as ever. He then heard a voice he had not in a while.

"Thomas…..," Jane said in a consoling voice, walking up to him slowly.  


"I….I have a story for you. I really want you to hear it."

Thomas remained there in sheer spite.

"Please, Thomas…..for your sister?" she asked softly.

This request surprised him. He looked at her and chugged up to her.  


"All right….," he responded.

Jane smiled and cleared her throat.

"Once upon a time….there was a boy. A boy with…with all the joy and life that only a child could have. A boy who was the…world to his father. A boy who….always wanted….to be….useful," she said in her sweetest voice. She found she did not have the right words afterall and sadly began to walk away.

"This is a true story, isn't it?" Thomas asked. Jane stopped and turned back to him. She nodded. 

Jane nodded her head.

"Believe me, it's far too good to be made up."

"Yeah, yeah it is." 

When Thomas said that, something appeared on his face that had not been there for days: A smile. A smile that was very much reciprocated.

Jane continued. "Well, the boy wasn't an engine. He lived with his father and sister on an island called Britain. Where no engines talked."

"O.K. That part not so much," Thomas chuckled. His chuckle again was very much reciprocated.

"His father was a manufacturer of the greatest engines the world had ever seen. He loved them with all his heart. Almost as much as his son. You see, after his wife died, his only joys were engines and his two children. His daughter was…."

"A brilliant girl with a great knack of writing?" Thomas continued. Jane laughed.

"Oh, stop..," she blushed. "But, I suppose you can say that…"

"Oh, come off it! Was her brother as good as her?"

"…..Yes. He was. He would lie in bed every night, and he would hear the engines chugging away….as well as the banker and the postman talking to each other. He would imagine that it was the engines who were talking. He would always tell his father and sister what they were saying. And he was the sweetest and most helpful boy in the world. He always did his chores without being asked and….he simply devoured any book on trains he could get, provided if he could read them. He LOVED the engines his father made. To his father, they were just machines but to him…..they were like people."  


As Jane continued her story, she could feel her confidence growing by the second. Thomas couldn't seem to get enough of her words.

And he couldn't.

He listened more and more intently, ever so focused. This was the first time he had felt this way when talking with Jane. The way she said all this, trains coming to life actually sounded quite amazing. Like it really only could exist in a child's dream. He thought of her as his sister before but he did now more than ever.

This was the greatest story Jane had ever told him. But of course….every great story had to have its sad parts as he realized as soon as her smile died down.

"Then….one day…the boy was stricken with…..measles."

Thomas looked confused. "What's measles?"

"It's what keeps little boys in bed with the window covered. No light. All day…."

"All day?"

"Yes."

"Surely, he had to do while he was in bed….."

"Well, that was where his father came in. With him still in bed, the two of them would recite every nursery rhyme they could think. Involving trains of course."

"Like what?"

"Like…." She began to sing. "Down by the station. Early in the morning. See the shiny train cars. All in a row."

Thomas simply loved her singing voice.

"What else did they sing?"

"Well there was this one chant his sister came up with….Once an engine attached to a train was afraid of a few drops of rain….."

",,,, it went into a tunnel and squeaked through its funnel and wouldn't come out again," the two of them sang together. They then started laughing together for the time ever.

"You came up with that one? That's one of my favorite ones! Sir Brown used to sing it to me!"

"It is quite good. I'll admit," she chuckled. "Anyway, his father even showed him a drawing he made of a locomotive, a train one of his employees made. Quite a kind fellow at that…."

"Sounds familiar…"

"Yes. Just for his son, he drew a face one it. When he saw it, he asked, 'what's his name, daddy?' 'Edward', his father answered. It was the first name that came into his head."

"'Why's he sad, daddy?' That's when his sister came in and said, 'because he's old and hasn't been allowed out his shed all day'…and then, through question and answering, the three came up with their first story….."Edward's Day Out".

Thomas was even more engrossed in the story, if that was even possible.

"Did they come up with any other characters?"

"Yes, about five more. And every single of them based on his employee's creations and every single one of them named on the spot,"

"And these workers wouldn't happen to be like the engines they made would they?"

"Well, the creator of the big blue one would say 'my engine is the biggest one of the lot!', the creator of the medium red one would say 'well mine is the brightest one of the lot!' and the creator of the small green one would say 'well that may be true but there's not as big or bright as your egos!'" Jane laughed with Thomas joining in.

"Anyway, one day, the boy's father gave him a pad and paper and told him he could draw anything he wanted. Right after that, he was given a message from an island. They had started making engines on their own but they all collapsed and died on their first day."

"And they were sent to the scrapyard…" Thomas said sadly, remembering why he was sulking in his shed to begin with. Jane saw the sadness in his face and continued on.

"….Yes. And so, they asked the father to provide them with some trains of his own as well as be their top station master….He of course said yes. He then visited his son that night and saw what he drew. It was the most beautiful drawing of a small blue tank engine….."

Thomas's face froze when she said that.

"Did…this engine have six small wheels?"

"Yes."

"And a short stumpy funnel?"

"Correct."

"And a short stumpy boiler?"

"Indeed."

"And a short stumpy dome?"

"The shortest and stumpiest there is!" she said and rubbing his side, causing him to giggle.

"The man just knew he had to reward his son for being such a good boy. He was going to bring his drawing to life."

"He seems like a very good father…."

"And so the hours became days and the days became weeks and at last….the boy's engine was a reality and on the boy's birthday no less…."  


"And then he got to ride this train all day when he got better, right?" Thomas asked excitedly. It was here when Jane gave a truly sad look.  


"The father, um…..came home with the boy's train with him. He was going to show it to him. He ran into the boy's room to share the good news but…..all he…..saw…..was…."

She then burst into tears and Thomas knew exactly what she was going to say….the boy had died. He could feel tears forming in his eyes himself.

He stood there for a minute and allowed her to cry some more. She then regained herself.

"Do you know what this boy's name was…Thomas?"

His tears officially started falling. His heart was even more broken then it was a couple of days ago.

"What….what did they do with Thomas?" he asked through the tears.

"He was buried…next to his mother. His father and his sister left for the island on a ship, with all their engines in tow. When they arrived, the man wanted to break his train in…..and so he did…can you guess what happened then?"

Thomas could fill in the blanks perfectly…..

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

He drove the engine to a nearby cliff. He stopped. He couldn't go on anymore. He got out of the cab and walked towards the cliff. He was going to throw himself off. His pain was just too great. His world had collapsed. He then fell on the ground and cried…..and cried…and cried. And then, he heard a voice behind him…..

"Excuse me….are you all right?"

He froze upon hearing this voice. He slowly turned around and jumped upon the sight. His red, puffy eyes were as big as saucers.

His son's train had a face, looking over him with a concerned look on his face.

He was about to scream when the engine asked…..

"You seem very sad…..is there anything I can help you with? I love being useful!"

It was his son. It was not his voice but his sweetness and purity were unmistakable.

"Are….are you my father?" the train asked.

The man walked towards him. Hoping that he would not wake from this dream.

"Yes. Yes, I am…..Thomas."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thomas sat there. And cried. Jane collapsed onto his bumpers and cried with him.

The two cried and cried. Finally, Jane got up on his bumpers and took out a handkerchief, wiping away his tears.

"You gave my father the will to live. Do you honestly think your life is meaningless?"

Thomas cleared his throat.

"Does…..this…..does this mean…..I AM human?"

Jane gave a small laugh and beamed at him.

"You're always trying to be useful, Thomas…..what's more human than that?"

He smiles back as she put her arms around his face in a loving embrace.

"Hey," he said. "I think we should find Dad. I owe him an apology."

"We both do."


	19. Gordon Gets It

"Found him yet?" Edward asked.

"No. Where can he be? We've already searched half the island," James said as the two gathered near the swamps.

Suddenly, Henry and Gordon were chugging towards them.

"Hey, you two! Any idea where Percy might be?" James said angrily.

"That is of our concern why exactly?" asked Gordon in his usual pompous tone.

"Oh, I dunno. Maybe because of what you said to him? You do know this is all your fault, right?"

"Well, in that case, you should be thanking me. Don't you agree, Henry? We've gotten rid of a bug. A little, green, obnoxious, thieving bug!" 

Gordon said with a smirk. Henry's only reply was a clearly reluctant nod and James's scowl was even nastier than it was a few seconds ago.  
Gordon and Henry chugged away but not before…

"What's the matter with you?"

It was Edward who said it. He remembered what Christopher said to him before. The other three froze as he chugged backwards between the two large engines so he could stare right into Gordon's eyes. James followed him.

"Percy could be stuck somewhere for all we know because of you and this is all you have to say?! That "little insect" has more kindness, bravery, and willpower in one wheel than you have in your entire body! You may be the strongest engine on this island Gordon but you are also the most miserable, pretentious, loathsome, conceited, and DESPICABLE ONE IN THE WORLD!" Edward bellowed, never breaking eye-contact with Gordon. In a huff he chugged away, leaving the other three absolutely frozen. He suddenly felt more pride than he had ever had previously.

The other three gaped at each other, jaws practically on their buffers at what Edward just said. James eventually put on a straight face and with a "hmm", he chugged pass Gordon who then just scoffed.

"What a load of posh, right Hen….," but Henry was done putting up with his rubbish.

"He's right….," he said coldly, leaving Gordon all alone, feeling something he had never felt in his life.

Regret.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Gordon entered the Sodor Slate Quarry. It was south of the Shane Dooiney mountain, the highest one in all of Sodor. It was an absolute wasteland there, almost like it was part of somewhere else in the world. He would never have been there if Edward's words had not hit him so hard. Edward and James went into the opposite direction of the quarry and he knew they did not look at this part of the island.  
He came into a tunnel and turned his lantern on.

"Percy?" he asked in his normal tone of voice, chugging forward. No response came. He then realized that he would have to make a louder noise so he started to blow his mighty whistle.

"Percy!" he began to shout as he whistled. He then realized how big of a mistake that was because the rocks above him started to fall from the vibrations, forcing him to chug faster as the track behind him was becoming more and more blocked.

As the dust settled and the rocks stopped falling he found himself right next to another tunnel as the track in front of him turned, right next to the one from the tunnel. It was from the tunnel that he heard a familiar voice.

"I was wondering if someone would find me," said Percy. He simply sat there, his eyes covered by the tunnel's darkness.

"Percy?!" Gordon replied. "Oh, thank God you're safe! Everyone's worried sick about you!"

"Like you were sick of me?" Percy replied bitterly.

Gordon just sat there. He then remembered why Percy was there.

"Percy, I'm sorry. All right?"

"I know you are. Sorry that I can't die."

"I only said that because I was angry."

"And you were angry because it turned out that what gave you purpose didn't exist. That if a pipsqueak like me could pull as much as you could then what made you so special?"

"Exactly! 

Percy's scowl just got even worse. 

"No, I mean….."

But it was too late. Percy already bolted away, forcing Gordon to chase him, desperately calling his name in vain.


	20. Rescue

Toby, with Christopher and Sir Brown inside him, started chugging down the long, somewhat rickety bridge that was right next to the Shane Dooiney Mountain. Sir Brown was almost pacing around the inside.

"Don't worry, sir," Christopher said. "We'll find him."

It was right at the moment where the three heard a deep, hollow noise that sounded like Gordon's whistle from the mountain. The vibrations apparently caused two rocks to fall right down, one blowing through a piece of the track in front of the Toby, and the other one crashing through a piece behind him. They were stranded now on the bridge.

"Oh bother! We're stucked!" Toby shouted.

"No….no we can't be!" Sir Brown shouted.

"It looks like we are sir….," Christopher said.

Sir Brown peaked out through one of Toby's doors and saw that they were instead trapped.

"Christopher…..maybe you can….take us out of here. Start driving Toby….," he suggested.

Christopher approached Toby's controls and something dawned on him.

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

"I don't know how to drive a tram sir….," Christopher responded apologetically.

"WHAT?!"

"I never had a chance to learn sir….We're just have to ring Toby's bell," and with that he did just that for a whole minute.

The bell sounded faint against the rocks of the mountain. The wood started to creak their weight. Sir Brown and Christopher sat against the back of Toby.

"Guess we'll just have to wait here…." Christopher said, scared out of his wits. "Hopefully someone will find us before we fall."

And they waited for approximately fifteen minutes and Christopher tried again.

Thomas was chugging nearby with Jane inside.

"I just hope they forgive me….."

"They will, don't worry," Jane comforted him.

The two then heard the sound of a bell, along with similar voices crying for help. They then wasted no time and hurried.

Christopher sat back next to Sir Brown.

"Well, that's that."

"I'm coming, Thomas….." Sir Brown whispered solemnly. Before Christopher could ask him what he meant…

"Thomas! Jane! Over here!" Toby cried out. They both rushed to his side and saw the two of them right in front of him with terrified looks on their face.

"Oh my God! What happened?!" Jane screamed as she ran outside of Thomas.

"We're stuck! Please help us!" Christopher shouted.

"I'm so sorry you two! I should never have said those things! I love you both so much! We'll help you!" Thomas pleaded. He clearly couldn't resist saying these things after seeing them in this position. Sir Brown smiled, relieved that his son didn't actually hate him.

Jane ran back inside Thomas and took out a long cord of rope. She noticed the dilapidated shack nearby and took out two planks of wood. She went over to the hole in front of Toby, placed the boards over the gap, and started tying the rope around one of Toby's buffers.

"Those rope tying lessons did pay off," Sir Brown noted from inside Toby.

Thomas came as close to Toby as he could on the bridge and Jane tied the other end around his buffer and told him to start chugging backwards as slowly and gently as possible, which he did. Eventually, Toby was halfway over the boards, his rear wheels still needing to go over and relief started to grow among everyone. Sir Brown and Christopher stayed as still as they could.

"That's it Thomas….baby crawls….." Jane said softly.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Percy was still bolting on the mountainside with Gordon chasing after him. 

"Percy, wait! Percy!" Gordon shouted as he started blowing his mighty whistle again.

Just as Toby was as good as free, another rock fell and broke right through the rope, causing yet another hole. He, Sir Brown, and Christopher were trapped yet again.

"Oh no!" cried both Jane and Thomas.

The wood beneath the bridge started to creek even harder than before. Its strength was going down by the second.

Jane was about to go over to get more wood and retie the rope when Gordon and Percy appeared from behind.

"Oh my goodness….." they cried out when they saw Toby perched precariously between two gaps on the bridge

"Percy!" everyone else cried.

"First off, I found him, you're welcome. Secondly, what's going on?!" Gordon asked.

"Toby's stuck!"

"There's a giant hole in front of him!"

The wood creaked even louder.

"Oh Gordon….what are we going to do?" Percy fretted. Gordon realized that Percy was on the exact same track as Toby.

"Percy…you have to save him," said Gordon.

"What?"

You're on the same track as he is and you're the perfect weight. You have to push him over the gap. I know you can do it."

"Gordon…."

"GO!"

With that Percy jetted about fifteen feet backwards to get the most moment him could.

"Thomas! Jane! Make way! Percy's gonna push Toby!" Gordon bellowed.

Jane hopped into Thomas as he went backward.

"Christopher! Sir Brown! Hang on to something! It's gonna be a hard bump! Brace yourself Toby!"

The two then placed their backs against Toby's front.

"All right, Percy! It's clear!"

Percy then started speeding like he had never before, the bridge creaking deafeningly under his weight. He flew over the first hole, crashed into Toby's back with a mighty force that would have sent Christopher and Sir Brown flying off if they were not in a safe position. Percy pushed Toby completely over the second hole and perfectly over the third hole with the inertia he gave. He then backed up on the track he was on and jumped over the third one. The two engines were safely off the bridge which collapsed behind them.

"Oh thank God you're safe!" Jane cried as she ran to her father and Christopher and kissed them all over after they climbed out of Toby. She even climbed onto Percy's buffer to give him some pecks herself, causing him to blush a deep crimson. "Thank you Percy….so much!"

"All in a day's work, ma'am," Percy quipped.

"What happened here!" James, Edward, and Henry cried out as they came to the sight. After they were told all that happened, even more cheers for Percy were given. They then saw Gordon smiling on the other side of where the bridge was.

"Still think Percy's worthless!" Edward cried out jokingly.


	21. Ways Mended

As the sun was setting, all seven of the engines, Jane, Sir Brown, and Christopher gathered around outside of Tidmouth station as Jane finished the story she had told Thomas.

"The End," she concluded as she wiped some tears out of her eyes. She wasn't the only one. There were sniffles throughout the crowd. The engines, besides Thomas, particular were almost sobbing. They did not know that their origin was so tragic.

"So….that's why you've loved Thomas more all these years….," Henry said through his tears.

"Oh…Henry. Don't ever think that I don't love all of you. You are all my children as well. It's just…." Sir Brown tried to explain.

"It's all right. We understand. We all do," said Gordon calmly.

"Yeah. But there's one thing I don't…..," Thomas piped in. He then looked at Sir Brown somewhat indignantly. "Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

"Because Thomas, I didn't want you to think you were a replacement for my son. I wanted you to think you WERE my son," This answer touched Thomas deeply and his somewhat annoyed face turned into his usual smile.

"And he is….he has had his spirit all these years," Jane said in her usual soothing voice as she patted Sir Brown's shoulder.

"And I always will. That Thomas never let death stop him from living. And neither will this one," Thomas responded tearfully. Those tears were reciprocated by both his sister and father. Christopher stood there, so glad he was able to see such a tender family moment after what had happened days ago.

"And neither will I," Percy chirped in. 

"I know you won't," said Gordon surprisingly. "Today, You pushed yourself greater than anyone has on this island. Including me. All right? I NEVER do that. Because I'm weak…but you inspire me. Because…..if an engine your size can push yourself that much, why can't one my size? "Your life has so much value and meaning, Percy. And I'm sorry if I've made you feel otherwise," he continued as tears began to fall from his face.

Percy began to cry himself before saying "Thank you, Gordon, same as you. Let's just be more humble from now on, shall we?"

"Yeah," Gordon smiled. 

"The Germans have quit! The Germans have quit!" in came Driver Johnny holding a newspaper.

"What's this now?" Sir Brown asked.

"The Germans have stopped bombing Britain! Luftflotte 2 has just withdrawn! The Blitz is over!" Johnny replied.

There were cheers and whistles among the engines. They stopped when they realized what this meant for Christopher.

"I guess that means you can go home now," Thomas said to the lad, regretfully.

Christopher just stood there, adopting a sad look on his face.

"Yeah. I suppose so. Hope London's as open to a kid driving as Sodor is," he laughed sadly. None of the others had his sense of humor at this moment.

"Christopher…." Sir Brown interrupted as he knelt to Christopher's eye level. "You know…I'm not going to able to be run this railway for much longer…..,"

The faces of everyone else started to light up.

"When I retire and you're old enough, I would be honored to declare you my successor. Until then, you can be my apprentice."

"Why me, though?" the boy asked.

"The engines have grown so much since you've been here. You know all of them better than any of my engineers."

"Though you can brush up on your tram engines," Toby laughed. The laugh was shared by the others.

"So….don't you think you can stay and be one to take care of my trains?" Sir Brown asked pleadingly.

"Absolutely sir!"

Cheers and whistles once again flooded the station as Jane gave the boy a giant hug and Sir Brown patted his head.

"It's settled then. When the time comes, you will be known as Sir Christopher….we don't know your surname," Sir Brown just realized. This fact finally came through to them all.

"All this time, we never asked it…." Jane said incredulously.  
Christopher gave a coy smile and took Sir Brown's hat and put on his own head.

"Hatt," he said.

"Sir Christopher Hatt. Not a bad sound to it," Jane laughed.

"Though don't you think you should change it since you're here? It might catch the attention from someone from Britain," Toby piped in.

"I suppose so," Edward said. "You'll need an alias at least."

"I have one," Percy chirped then retracted. "No. Forget it. It's too stupid,"

"What is it Percy," Everyone else asked.

"Well….I was thinking…Sir Topham Hatt….I know it's not good."

"No, it's not…it's wonderful," Gordon said smiling.

"All right, Sir Topham Hatt it is," Thomas said.

There will be one more chapter after this. Can't believe it's almost here.


	22. Epilogue

"That was some race, wasn't it, sir?"

"It certainly was Thomas. It showed Bertie what for."

Sir Topham Hatt was riding Thomas back into the shed.

Christopher had been head of the railway for almost sixty years now while Thomas and all the engines still had not aged a day.

Sodor had come part of the United Kingdom again and everyone now knew about its engines. Everyone came to see them, from the queen, the creators of the engines, and those who were simply curious to see such amazing creatures. Even children who had read Jane and her father's books came to see their favorite characters. The books proved to be quite successful and anyone who read them couldn't get enough of the exploits of Thomas and his friends (Though they are somewhat exaggerated. Gordon isn't NEARLY as pompous as he used to be), so much so that there had even been a television series based on them. In particular, children with something called "autism" seemed to have taken quite a liking to the stories.

Not only that but Jane and Christopher both realized that they were in love with each other and became married shortly after he was old enough. SIr Brown could not be more proud of his new son and law, and continued to observe his success and growth up until his death at the ripe old age of seventy-six. 

Christopher had loved being head of the railway ever since he had taken over Sir Brown's place. He loved the guests, he loved making sure passengers and goods made it on time, but most of all, he loved the engines. Sure, he had to scold them now and then but he could never imagine life without them, one, in particular, he was attached to.

Right after they backed into the shed where all the other engines were about to snooze, Sir Topham Hatt climbed down from Thomas and walked to the doors in front of them to close them. But before he could do so, he couldn't help but point out something that had concerned him these past few days.

"That ride was somewhat slower than it was last year…you're getting old Thomas…and I won't be around to take care of you much longer," he said sadly.

"Sir…don't forget what we all learned that day," the blue engine said to him.

Topham just looked up at him and smiled warmly.

"How could I? Thank you Thomas."

And I think that makes Thomas a really useful engine, don't you? 

THE END


End file.
